Pokemon Santiago Version - Kanto
by SilverNugget
Summary: There are two sides to every story and this is the one belonging to one Ronalda Santiago, her brother Bobby and Clyde McBride. Will they achieve their own respective goals in the world of Pokemon? Find out by reading this. Takes place during the events of Pokemon Loud Version. Warning: may...no, WILL contain strong language.


Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, the Loud House or Los Casagrandes. Those properties belong to Nintendo/Game Freak and (regardless of what happened to him) Chris Savino/Nickelodeon respectively.

Note: This story, much like Pokemon Loud Version, will be based primarily on the anime with aspects of the games, the Adventures manga and the Electric Tales manga mixed in. Also, for the sake of convenience, I will be using the following fonts for these particular parts of the story:

Translated Pokemon Speech

_Pokedex Entries/Computerized Voices/Flashbacks_

-=O=-

-Five Island - Heliport (6:35 PM)-

With a smile on her face as she stepped out of the helicopter and onto Five Island's heliport, Ivy remarks "Well, we finally managed to make it, you three. Welcome to Five Island." while Bobby, Ronnie and Clyde started to disembark from the aircraft as well.

As he and the Santiago siblings looked around, Clyde comments "It's very nice, Professor. Do you actually live here?"

"I do. As a matter of fact, my home - the laboratory where my assistants and I tend to our studies - shouldn't be too much further from where we are now. About a mile or two north from here, to be precise." answered Ivy, nodding her head. "Speaking of which, we should be on our way there now. It's starting to get late."

"Lead the way." replied Ronnie, causing Ivy to nod before heading northward while motioning for the trio to follow after her. "So what else is there to see on Five Island aside from the lab, Professor?"

"Well, just north of the lab is Resort Gorgeous, which is, as you can expect from the name, a beachside resort town. Along the way, there's the Lost Cave, where you can find several cavern-dwelling Pokemon inside." answered Ivy before giving the three a stern look. "However, I would advise that you refrain from stepping into a place like that until you have a Pokemon of your own."

As her frown deepens, she adds "I've also heard rumors of Team Rocket's presence somewhere on the island as well, but those haven't been verified yet. Still, I would suggest that you stay close to the lab for the time being."

"Team Rocket?" questioned Bobby, eyebrow raised.

Groaning, Ronnie answers "Professor Oak mentioned that they're the ones who ran into Lincoln and his friends at Cerulean Cape, remember?"

"I remember that part. I'm actually asking about who they are, Nie Nie."

Stepping in, Clyde says "Lisa mentioned to us that they're a group of Pokemon thieves that Lincoln had ran into once or twice during his time in Kanto. From what she claimed, they're supposed to be incredibly dangerous."

"Correction, Mr. McBride - they ARE incredibly dangerous." stated Ivy in a serious tone. "Do not attempt to pick any fights with them unless you have no choice in the matter. Is that clear?"

"Crystal, Professor. If these Rocket guys are as dangerous as you're claiming they are, then I'm going to do my best to keep Clydesdale and my sister away from them."

"Aw, c'mon Bobby...I bet we could take 'em." groused Ronnie, giving her brother an aside glance. "Lincoln managed to make it out just fine with the skirmishes he's had with them so far. We could probably beat those Rocket chumps, too."

"Not gonna happen, sis. Unless we've got no choice but to fight them, we're steering clear of those guys." answered Bobby, shaking his head. "I don't need Mom or the McBrides getting on my case because you wanna go and pick a fight."

After a moment, Ronnie sighs and says "Fine...only if absolutely necessary." before deciding to change the subject. "So Professor Ivy...from what I read about you on the internet, you study different variations of Pokemon, right?"

"That's correct. While other Pokemon Professors study things like moves, evolution and even Pokemon themselves, I prefer to study the different variations of Pokemon that exist, along with the conditions that caused their bodies to drastically change from their original forms. The Pokemon of Valencia Island in the Orange Archipelago especially catch my interest, considering the fact that they keep the same types as their standard brethren, but still have a unique appearance to them."

Smiling, she adds "With any luck, I'll get to see some of them up close when I make the move to Valencia Island later on this year."

"You're moving?" asked Clyde, causing Ivy to nod in response. "Uh...how will that effect you being able to sponsor us, if I may ask? Will we have to consult another Professor when you leave Five Island?"

With looks of concern on their faces, Bobby and Ronnie turn to Ivy, waiting to hear her answer.

Chuckling, Ivy remarks "I wouldn't worry about your sponsorship disappearing after I move, you three. Even if I decide to move to a completely different region outside of Kanto, your sponsorship from me would still remain valid. The only time you'll need to worry about losing them would be if you decide to do something illegal or take part in doing something that meets my disapproval. Aside from that, you three should still be good even after I move to Valencia Island."

"Oh...well, that's good. You really had me worried there for a moment, Professor." said Ronnie, letting out a sigh of relief. "So what'll happen after we manage to pass our exams and finish those mock battles you were talking about during our flight?"

"That'll be up to you three. You'll be official Trainers by then, so you'll be making the decisions on where your journey together takes you, not me." answered Ivy, shrugging. "However, considering that you want to catch up with your friend in the Kanto region, your first stop should be Cinnabar Island, which is just northwest of here. From there, you and Mr. McBride can register yourselves at the local Pokemon Center for the Kanto Gym Challenge and the Kanto Contest Challenge respectively."

"I remember you mentioning that there was a gym there as well, but you said that it was inactive. What happened to it?"

"Tourism. Cinnabar Island is a popular vacation spot in the Kanto region, attracting people from all over with the sights that it has to offer." said Ivy, frowning. "However, while the tourism part of the island thrived, the number of challengers coming to challenge for a Volcano Badge gradually dwindled down to nothing. With no challengers coming to battle him, the Cinnabar Gym Leader had to shut the place down."

Suddenly, a female voice commented "Actually, you're wrong about that, Professor. According to the Kanto Region's Badge Listing, the Volcano Badge is still the active Fire-Type badge.", causing the four to turn to face the voice's owner.

Upon seeing her assistants standing nearby, Ivy asks "What are you three doing here? Shouldn't you be back at the lab, getting everything set up for our guests? And what do you mean that the Volcano Badge is still active?"

Handing over what appeared to be a tablet, Faith answers "Take a look for yourself." before she and her sisters walked over to greet the Santiago siblings and Clyde. "So...you three must be the Americans that Professor Ivy told us about, right? The ones who's going to be taking the Trainer's Exam at our lab?"

Nodding, Ronnie answers "That's us." before offering the spectacle-wearing girl a handshake. "Ronnie Anne Santiago, nice to meetcha."

"Faith Virtue. Likewise." replied Faith as she accepted the gesture. Pointing at her sisters as they gave the three Michigan natives a friendly wave, she adds "The two behind me are my sisters Hope and Charity. We live with Professor Ivy at her lab, assisting her with her research."

"Neat." said Ronnie before motioning for Bobby and Clyde to step forward to introduce themselves. "Don't just stand there like a couple of lumps, you two. Come over here and say hello."

As he shook hands with all three of the Virtue sisters, Clyde says "Name's Clyde McBride. It's nice to meet all three of you." with a smile on his face.

"Same here. It's nice to meet you too." replied Hope before her eyes caught onto Bobby as he walked over to introduce himself. "Who...is that?"

"My brother Bobby. He's a good guy, if a bit...well, not exactly all there sometimes." answered Ronnie, pointing at her sibling.

Holding out his hand for a handshake, Bobby starts to say "I'm Bobby Santiago - Ronnie's older brother. It's nice to..." only for the three Virtue sisters to suddenly surround him, eyes shining in delight as their cheeks flushed with color.

"Ooh...you're a cute one! Are you single, by any chance?" asked Hope, causing the teen's cheerful expression to change to one of bewilderment.

"Huh?"

"Are all American boys as cute as you are?" questioned Faith as she held onto one of his arms.

Clasping her hands together, Charity asks "Do you know how to cook a decent meal without blowing up the stove? Or use a washing machine, for that matter?"

"Well...yeah, but..."

"Great! We need someone like you around the lab!" chimed Faith happily as she gave the clearly confused teen a hug. "Ours keeps blowing up when Charity uses it and..."

"It does not!" snapped Charity, snapping out of her love-struck state to yell at her sister.

"Does so!"

"Does not!"

"Girls, that's enough!" barked Ivy loudly, causing the three sisters to look at her before quickly moving away from Bobby, who looked somewhat relieved that he wasn't the focus of their attention anymore. "We need to focus on getting back to the lab before night falls. Now then, I need to ask - do you have everything set up for our guests?"

"Yes, Professor. We were actually on our way to meet us with you at the heliport." answered Hope, nodding.

"Including the guest room?"

"We had to move a couple of futons in there because there was only one bed, but yeah."

"Okay, that's all I needed to know. Good work, you three." said Ivy with a nod. "Now then, we should be going. It's dangerous to be out at night."

"Why's that?" asked Clyde curiously, causing Charity to give him a look.

"Pokemon from the Lost Cave are nocturnal, so they'll be coming out in a few hours. It's not safe for people to be out at a time like this if they don't have any Pokemon on hand."

"Ah...that makes sense. So how much further from your lab are we, Professor?"

"Not too much further. As a matter of fact, we should be there right about..." started Ivy before coming to a stop in front of a large building with a red-colored roof that was shaped like the upper half of a Pokeball. Standing proudly a few feet away from it was a large windmill, which the three Americans assumed was the source of the lab's electrical power. "...Now. Welcome to my home, workplace and the very location where you three will be taking your exams - the Five Island laboratory."

-=O=-

-Professor Ivy's Laboratory - Hallway (7:00 PM)-

As Professor Ivy started to lead her, Clyde and her brother to the lab's guest room, Ronnie asks "Professor? I've got a question for you about the exam that you're going to be giving us - what happens if we fail to pass it?"

Upon hearing the question his sister had asked, Bobby inquired "Are you going to send us back to the States?" with a worried tone to his voice.

Still leading her charges to their room, Ivy answers "Of course not, Mr. Santiago. If either of you fail to pass, then you'll get another chance at it once you feel ready to try again." said Ivy reassuringly. "We do make exceptions for those who constantly make attempts at the exam without showing signs of improvement, but I doubt we'll have to worry about that with you three, especially since we're going to give you enough time to study for it beforehand."

Groaning, Ronnie mutters "Great. Even when I'm hundreds of miles away from school, I still have to end up studying in order to pass an exam."

While Bobby and Clyde chuckled at the remark, Ivy smiles wryly, saying "If it helps, this will be the only exam you'll ever need to worry about when it comes to being a Trainer. All you need to do is pass it, get through the mock battles and you'll be all set." before coming to a stop in front of a door. Upon opening it up, she steps aside to let the three Americans enter the room behind the door.

Upon seeing the large size of the room in front of him, Bobby comments "Wow...this room's bigger than the one I have back home. This is where we'll be sleeping tonight?"

"It is. This is also where, starting tomorrow, you three will be spending your time in order to study for your exam." stated Ivy, nodding. "I hope it's suitable enough for you."

"We'll make it work." replied Ronnie with a nod. "So...uh, not to sound rude or anything, but when's dinner? I'm famished."

"I had Charity order delivery a few minutes ago. You three don't mind Tamato sauce and Miltank Cheese pizza, do you?"

"You guys get pizza out here, too?" questioned Bobby, surprised.

"Mm-hmm. It's something we regularly have here at the lab." answered Ivy before sighing as she planted her hands on her hips. "Especially since the Virtues keep blowing up my stove. I keep telling them to stop trying to use it to cook, but..."

KA-BOOM!

While Ronnie, Bobby and Clyle jumped to their feet in fright, Faith's voice rings out from another part of the lab, shouting "Professor! Charity blew up the washing machine again!"

"I did not! It's just...yeah. It...it blew up, Professor..."

"Oh...why did it have to be the washing machine this time...?" moaned Ivy to herself as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I need to get going before the basement starts flooding again. Will you three be able to settle in by yourselves?"

"We'll manage, Professor. You can go ahead and...uh, deal with your problem downstairs."

"Thank you. I'll make sure to have the necessary books brought here to you tomorrow morning. Good night." replied Ivy with a nod before hurrying out of the room, leaving the three Americans behind.

As the sounds of the Virtue sisters panicking and Ivy trying to calm them down sounds throughout the room, Ronnie twiddles her thumbs awkwardly for a moment before asking "So...how do you think they managed to get their washing machine to blow up?"

Shaking his head, Bobby answers "I'm honestly afraid to ask, Nie Nie."

-=O=-

As the moon shone brightly in the night skies above Five Island, Ronnie slept soundly within the confines of the single bed in the lab's guest room, clearly caught up in the dream she was currently having at the moment.

Much like the one she had the morning before, this one took place inside of a massive stadium filled to the brim with cheering fans, all of them wildly applauding for a single person standing on a large, flat platform with a Pokeball design carved into it with a golden trophy in hand.

The person in question? Herself.

As the Hispanic girl waved proudly to the cheering crowd with a wide smile on her face, her eyes caught onto the cheering forms of the entire Loud, McBride and Casagrande families, as well as her her mother, who seemed to be crying tears of joy alongside her aunt and grandmother.

Suddenly, six figures started to take form around her, letting out simultaneous cries of triumph as the crowd's cheers grew louder.

A stubby blue and yellow snake-like Pokemon with a drill-like tail.

A large jet black bird with a white beard-like crest on its chest and a tuft of feathers that resembled a wide-brimmed hat.

A hulking red and yellow-colored Pokmeon with flame-like patterns on its body that was firing two massive jets of fire from it's cannon-like hands.

A dark blue beetle-like Pokemon with a large, proud-looking horn.

A blue-colored mollusk-like Pokemon with a large spiked shell attached to its back.

A brown-colored humanoid Pokemon clad in a lavender-colored garment and a pair of boxing gloves.

And high in the skies above the stadium, a large white and blue-colored avian flew through the air, singing a strange melody that could be heard, even over the cheering crowd.

-=O=-

Meanwhile, Clyde was also sound asleep, bundled up in numerous blankets as he slept on one of the futons that the Virtue sisters had brought to the room earlier. Like Ronnie Anne, he too was caught up in the dream he was having.

Inside of a large ornate arena with a battlefield in the center of it, a lone figure stood in the center, waving the the cheering crowd with a proud smile on his face as he held a golden cup-like trophy with a stunning ribbon attached to it his other hand.

The person in question? Himself.

In the stands, several people that Clyde knew were expressing their joy at the sight - Lincoln and Ronnie were cheering for their friend, both McBride parents were brought to tears with proud smiles on their faces and even the rest of the Loud family (including Lynn) were whooping in joy.

As Clyde turned to wave to them, his eyes caught onto Haiku, who was walking towards him with a warm smile on her face that would've looked unusual on the normally droll girl's face. In this case however, it felt right seeing her in such a happy mood.

As the two embraced in the center of the field, six figures started to form around them, standing proudly as the cheers of the crowd washed over them.

A bluish-grey elephant-like Pokemon with dark gray, almost armor-like plating on its body.

A floating metallic Pokemon with three eyes and two magnets on its body that were spinning rapidly.

A large bivalve-like Pokemon with a face grinning within its dark depths.

An erratic-looking blue and pink colored Pokemon with yellow eyes whose body twitched uncontrollably.

A brown-colored bipedal Pokemon with two sharp sickle-like blades on the ends of its arms.

A calm-looking pink-colored Pokemon with a red and white frill around its neck and a shell-like crown on its head.

Much like Ronnie's dream, the mysterious song once again rang out through the air, audible even above the sound of the cheering crowd.

-=O=-

Inside of the other futon in the room, Bobby was contently sleeping, drooling slightly with a smile on his face as he continued going through his own dream.

"Mmm...you really make that pizza delivery outfit work for you, babe. You can make a delivery to my doorstep anytime..."

Needless to say, his dream was...er, 'different' than the ones that Ronnie and Clyde were having.

-=O=-

(The Next Morning)

Almost as if in unison with each other, both Ronnie and Clyde had woken up that morning, the memories of their dreams still vividly running through their minds.

'Those figures...were they Pokemon?' thought the Hispanic girl to herself as she thought over what she had seen during her slumber. '...Was that a sign of things to come?'

Turning to look at Clyde, she noticed that he had the same pensive expression as her, almost as if he had experienced the same dream.

Opening her mouth to speak, she asks "Hey, McBride. Did you...", only to be cut off when he finished her sentence for her.

"Have a weird dream last night?" questioned Clyde, causing Ronnie to look at him for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. You too?"

"Yeah. Even though it was a dream, it felt so real. Almost as if I were really there."

"Same here. I could almost feel Haiku in my arms as we..." started Clyde, only to stop speaking upon seeing the grin forming on Ronnie's face. "...Dang it."

Grin widening to almost Cheshire-levels, Ronnie asked "Haiku, huh? You starting to get over my brother's ex already, McBride?"

"No! I just...I don't know anymore. A part of me is still in love with Lori, but..."

"The other part of you is starting to pull you away from her and towards Miss Dreary & Spooky, right?"

In response, Clyde flushes slightly before wordlessly nodding.

Nodding as well, Ronnie says "Uh-huh. Well, if you want my input, I suggest you let that part of you go through with it. Ex-girlfriend or not, my brother's heart is still set on Lori and I know for sure that she still loves him, even if they're not together right now. Let it go, McBride."

"I want to, but it's hard." confessed Clyde, head lowered slightly. "I'm trying my best to pull away, but that little part of me just won't let go. It's got me thinking that maybe this journey might be the way to win her over once and for all. That maybe once I show her how great of a Trainer I can be, she'll give me a chance."

"Instead of doing this to impress Lori, you should focus on keeping your word on what you said during the ride to Five Island, McBride. Don't tell me that you've forgotten about that already." remarked Ronnie, causing the memory of that moment to run through Clyde's mind.

-Flashback-

_"I see...well, you'll have to work hard and put in much effort as possible into properly training any Pokemon you manage to capture if you want to fulfill that goal, Miss Santiago. The path of becoming a regional champion will not be an easy one for you to walk." said Ivy, nodding. "And yourself, Mr. McBride?"_

_"I'm not really sure, to be honest." replied Clyde, shrugging. "Sure, challenging gyms would be nice, but I don't want to take something like that away from Ronnie and Lincoln."_

_"Really, Clyde? You're just going to give up something like that because you don't want to step on any toes?" asked Ronnie, eyebrow raised._

_"Kinda. I'm mainly doing this because I want to try winning something for myself instead of following you two into the Pokemon League."_

_"Uh-huh. And you're not just doing this to try and impress Lori, are you?" asked Ronnie, only for Clyde to shake his head, much to her surprise. "No?"_

_"Nope. I'm doing this for me, my parents and a certain someone who's looking forward to my return once this trip is over."_

-Flashback End-

"That's right..." mused Clyde to himself. "...I said that I was going to do this for myself, my parents and...her. Haiku."

"So that's who the 'certain someone' was, huh?" commented Ronnie with a smirk, causing Clyde to blush at the remark. "Hey, I'm not gonna knock you over it, McBride. The way I see it, you're doing this for yourself and people who love you for who you are instead of someone who's never given you the time of day. Never lose sight of that goal, Clyde. Always keep it in your sights."

"I...I'll try." answered Clyde before giving her a small smile. "So...are you ready to start studying for the exam today?"

"No. Are you?"

"Nope. We've gotta go through with it if we want to have a chance of passing, though."

"Yeah, I know." said Ronnie with a sigh before turning her attention to her brother, who was still sound asleep. "You wanna go ahead and wake him up?"

"No. Do you?"

"Nope, but someone's gotta do it." said the Hispanic girl before getting to her feet and walking over to her brother's futon. Upon hearing some of the lewd-sounding mumbles coming from him as he slept, Ronnie shook her head before motioning for Clyde to come over to her.

Once the nerdy boy was at her side, she points at the blanket that was wrapped around Bobby's body and makes a yanking motion with her hands. Almost as if understanding what she was signalling to him, Clyde nods before clutching the blanket tightly with both hands.

After Ronnie does the same, the two give each other a nod before pulling hard on the blanket, yanking both it and Bobby off of the futon, causing the latter to crash onto the floor with a loud 'thud'.

Waking up from the sudden impact, Bobby groans before sitting up holding his now aching head.

"Ugh...you two couldn't wake me up the easy way?" mumbled the teen, clearly miffed about being woken up so abruptly. "What time is it?"

"It's time to get out of bed, that's what time it is." answered Ronnie, hands on her hips. "There's no way we're just going to let a lump like you sleep while we're busting our butts, studying for the exam."

After looking blearily around the room and finding no hints of anything needing to be studied anywhere, Bobby mutters "...Nie Nie, there's nothing here save for us. Why couldn't you have just woken me up when it was time to actually study?"

"Professor Ivy said that we'll be receiving the books we'll need for the exam in the morning. For all we know, they could be on their way here as we speak."

After letting out a jaw-cracking yawn, Bobby tiredly mutters "Relax, Nie Nie. We've got plenty of time to read up for the exam. It's not like we're going to be leaving later on today or anything." before shrugging with a tired smile on his face. "Besides, even if they do show up in a few minutes with those books, I'm sure that it'll only be a few textbooks or something."

"With this exam requiring at least two days for us to prepare for it?" questioned Clyde, eyebrow raised. "I doubt it's going to be that simple. We're going to need all the time as we can squeeze out of those two days to ready for this, I just know it."

"I'm sure we won't have to push ourselves that hard, Clydesdale." mumbled Bobby before letting out another yawn. "I'm sure that if all three of us go over this together, we'll streamline things along fairly quickly."

Eyebrows raised, Clyde remarks "That's...actually pretty smart. Why bother to read the same books three different times in a row when all three of us can go over the same material together and pick up something from it?"

"Exactly. If we do that, we'll have this study session done in no time at all." replied Bobby with a relaxed smile his face. "We've got this, you two."

"Yeah...we've got this." said Ronnie to herself before pointing at the door, eyes blazing fiercely. "Alright, bring 'em on! Whatever you have to throw at us, we'll mow right through it! We're ready for you!"

Almost as if accepting Ronnie's challenge, the door opens up as the Virtue sisters step into the room, carrying large stacks of books in their arms that nearly touched the ceiling of the room.

Upon seeing the stacks, the fire in Ronnie's eyes immediately extinguishes as her pointer finger started to falter like the once-boastful confidence she had expressed a few seconds ago. Behind her, Clyde and Bobby stared at the books with widened eyes and dropped jaws.

After dumping her load of books onto the bed, Charity says "There you go - a whole Trainer School semester's worth of books, all packed with everything you'll need to know for your exam.", dusting off her hands while Hope and Faith followed suit and did the same thing, causing the bed to creak slightly from the sheer weight.

"Have fun reading them, you three." added Faith while Charity and Hope waved them off with Cheshire-like grins on their faces before leaving the room and the three Americans behind.

After staring at the books wordlessly for a moment, Ronnie gives her brother a dry look, asking "...Only a few textbooks, huh?"

"Well...uh, we can still move this along pretty quickly if we go through them together." said Bobby, sweating slightly as he eyed the books, only to stare dumbly at them when their combined weight finally proved too much for the bed to handle, causing it to collapse. "...Okay, maybe not."

"Damn it, that was my bed! Where am I going to sleep now?!"

"Language!"

-=O=-

(Three Days Later...)

-Professor Ivy's Laboratory - Outside Ivy's Office (9:00 AM)-

As she, Clyde and Bobby sat on the couch in front of Professor Ivy's office, a cold sweat ran down Ronnie's neck as her eyes constantly drifted towards the door leading to the office.

'This feeling of dread...did Lame-O go through this when he took his Trainer's exam?' thought the Hispanic girl to herself as she turned her attention down to her hands, which were trembling slightly.

Noticing this, Bobby stammers "H-hey...relax, Nie Nie...we've got this, right? Ju-just chill...", trying to ignore the fact that he was shaking almost as much as his sister was.

"But what if we don't pass, Bobby? What if we don't do well enough and Professor Ivy decides to send us back home?"

"I d-doubt she'd do that to us, Ronnie." mumbled Clyde in a slightly quivering voice. "R-remember what she said before? If we fail, she'll give us a-another shot at taking the exam again later."

"Y-yeah...Clydesdale's right, Nie Nie. If we fail...we'll just t-try harder next time to pass."

"I guess..." grumbled Ronnie to herself, crossing her still-trembling arms. "I'm just not looking forward to reading all of those books again if we don't pass this thing. Reading them once was bad enough."

"Well, once we go over the results of your exams, we'll see if you'll need to worry about that or not." stated Ivy's voice from nearby as the professor herself stepped out of her office with several papers in her hand. "...Are you three alright?"

"Just a bit...uh, anxious to find out how we did on the exams, Professor." replied Bobby, plastering what he thought was a reassuring smile on his face.

"You want your results, huh? Well, let's see here..." remarked Ivy before looking over the exams carefully. "...Well, you three barely managed to pass the main part of the exam regarding Pokemon Battles, barely managed to pass the evolution and type sections...I'd say you did average at best on your exams."

"Average at best...that's good, right?" asked Bobby hopefully.

Making a 'so-so' gesture with her hand, Ivy answers "Kinda 'meh', actually. To be fair though, you three hardly know anything about the Pokemon world, so a grade like this would be expected. I'd honestly be surprised if you scored higher than this."

Growing more and more anxious about the results of the exams, Ronnie asks "But did we manage to pass the exam? That's what I want to know!"

"Just a moment, Miss Santiago. I'm getting to that." answered Ivy, turning her attention back to the papers. "Now then, taking into consideration everything you three have managed to answered correctly on the exams..."

"Yes...?" asked the three Americans, leaning closer.

"...And everything you managed to get wrong..."

At this, the three whimpered slightly, just wishing that the plum-haired woman would just hurry up and get this out of the way instead of drawing it out.

"...You three managed to score high enough to qualify for a Trainer's Card." finished Ivy before giving the trio a warm smile. "So yes, all three of you pass. Congratulations."

After staring at Ivy for a few moments in shocked silence, Ronnie, Clyde and Bobby immediately stand up and start celebrating, clearly happy with the fact that they had gotten past the Trainer's Exam.

Sure, it was with a barely passing grade, but to the three Michigan natives, it didn't matter - they passed the exam and that was good enough for them.

Clearing her throat to get their attention, Ivy remarks "Now hold on, you three. You're not finished just yet.", causing the Santiago siblings and Clyde to look at her oddly. "You still have to complete the mock battles with my assistants, remember?"

At this, their good mood immediately faltered, realizing that they weren't in the clear just yet.

Sighing, Ronnie mutters "Right...almost forgot about that." before giving Ivy a questioning look. "So what's the condition for passing? Do we have to win the battle or..."

"Winning does lead to an instant qualification, yes. However, there are ways to qualify even if you end up losing the mock battle, Miss Santiago." answered Ivy, nodding. "Let's just say that your battles won't be the only thing I'll be watching and leave it at that."

While Bobby and Ronnie raised an eyebrow at the last part of the professor's comment, Clyde thinks her words over for a moment before his eyes light up in realization.

'...She's going to be watching us as well. This test isn't just to see how well we do in a Pokemon Battle, but to observe us on how we conduct ourselves during it, too.'

"Well, at least this part of our qualification will probably be something I'll enjoy doing. Better than that exam, at any rate." commented Ronnie with a shrug before realizing something. "...Wait. How are we supposed to participate in a mock battle without any Pokemon?"

At this, Ivy smiles and says "Not to worry, Miss Santiago. You'll be using some of the Pokemon here at the lab for that." before putting her fingers to her mouth and letting out a whistle, causing Charity and Faith to enter the room with Hope trailing right behind them with a large backpack full of Pokeballs in her arms.

Giving them a look, she asks "Did you make sure to sort through them all before bringing them here, you three?"

"Yep!" chimed Faith, nodding. "We made sure to go through every single Pokemon we've caught over the past couple of days."

Holding up a finger, Charity adds "You won't find any of the overly dangerous or difficult to handle Pokemon in that bag, Professor!"

"According to Prima's guide on Pokemon for beginners, everything that's inside of this bag should be safe enough for our guests to handle." finished Hope, placing the bag on a nearby table. "Which is kind of a shame, really. We caught some real gems while looking for Pokemon for them to use - Skarmory, Heracross, Magmar, Wobbuffet..."

"I'm pretty sure that we caught a Dunsparce, too." commented Faith before pointing at the bag. "I wanted to keep it, but Hope just had to say that it was safe enough for our guests to use."

Giving the three Americans a look, she adds "No offense to you guys or anything, but I'm genuinely hoping that neither of you get that Dunsparce. I'd really like to keep it here with us at the lab."

"What do you mean by 'get'? You're just lending these Pokemon to us, right?" questioned Bobby, causing Ivy and the Virtue sisters to look at each other before the former opened her mouth to speak.

"To answer your question, Mr. Santiago...all three of you will be picking one Pokemon from the bag before the mock battles start. The Pokemon that you end up choosing will stay with you after the battle as your official starter."

"And we'll get to keep them permanently?" asked Clyde, causing Ivy to nod.

"Unless you release them back into the wild or trade them away, then yes, you'll get to keep what you pick out of the bag." answered Ivy, nodding. "However, you'll only be allowed to pick one - just one - Pokemon each. Everything else will be staying here at the lab with us."

Taking into consideration what Professor Ivy had just said, Ronnie asked "So we get to pick only one, huh? Is there any way of seeing what's inside of them?"

"Aside from trying your luck and picking one of them, no." replied Ivy, shaking her head.

"So we have to pick one of those out without any hints as to what's inside of them. Great." muttered Clyde to himself. "This is going to be difficult for me to deal with then, then. I prefer to know what my choices are before I make a decision on something."

"I've gotta admit that I'm a little concerned about this, too. What if the Pokemon in that bag aren't strong enough to beat whatever your assistants throw at us?" asked Bobby, concerned.

"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you, Mr. Santiago - everyone participating in the mock battles will be using the Pokemon in the bag." answered Ivy reassuringly. "Which includes my assistants as well. We want the battles to be challenging, not impossible."

"We wouldn't use our personal teams against you three anyway. No offense intended, but they'd wipe the floor with the Pokemon you end up picking." commented Faith, shrugging while Hope and Charity nodded their heads. "And no, that's not a boast - it's a fact. Our Pokemon are around the Level 35-40 range, which is well above what the Pokemon in the bag are currently."

"How reassuring of you." remarked Ronnie dryly before turning her attention to the bag. "So...we only get to pick one and that's it, huh?"

Nodding, Ivy answers "That's it." before gesturing towards the bag. "Now then, since I believe in 'ladies first', you'll be going first, Miss Santiago. Go ahead and pick out your Pokemon."

Hearing this, Ronnie nods before walking over to the bag and opening it. After taking a look at the dozens of Pokeballs inside of it, her attention catches onto a certain one that was near the opening of the bag. She didn't know why, but something about this particular Pokeball called out to her.

Picking it up, she says "This one. I'll take this one."

"Very well. Mr. Santiago, would you like to go next?"

"I'll wait, Professor." replied Bobby, shaking his head. "You go ahead and pick yours out, Clydesdale."

Giving the older boy a look, Clyde asks "Are you sure? I'm in no rush to pick one out or anything."

"Go ahead. I can wait."

After a moment, Clyde says "...Alright, suit yourself." before walking over to the bag and opening it. After taking several minutes to look over the collection of Pokeballs, he pulls one of the out and examines it for a moment, then nods before returning back to where he had stood before.

Holding the red and white ball up, he says "I've made my choice, Professor."

"Excellent. Now then, we just need Mr. Santiago to pick his starter and then we'll..." started Ivy, only to be cut off upon hearing an older man's voice coming from outside, calling for help.

"S-someone please help! L-Lady Selphy...she's gone! I can't find her!"

Upon hearing the name 'Selphy' being uttered, Ivy sighs and says "...Oh dear...it seems like Miss Selphy's gotten herself lost again...", causing the three Virtue sisters to sigh while Ronnie, Clyde and Bobby looked at the plum-haired woman in confusion.

"Uh...you mind filling us in on what's going on, Professor? Who the heck is Selphy?"

"Do you remember how I mentioned Resort Gorgeous earlier while we were at the heliport?" asked Ivy, causing the three Americans to nod. "She's the owner."

"She's also got a terrible sense of direction, which is bad enough to the point where she had gotten lost inside of her own villa." commented Faith, shaking her head. "She got lost in her own home. That's how bad she is with directions."

"I think that's also the main reason why Sebastian's always tagging along with her - to keep her from getting lost." stated Charity, nodding."

Eyebrows raised in disbelief, Bobby comments "Wow...that's...that's bad. So where does she usually go when this kinda thing happens?"

"Thankfully, she never wanders away from Five Island, so we don't have to go too far out of our way to locate her." answered Hope, arms crossed. "However, that still doesn't make her any less of a pain to find. I've lost count of the number of times we had to scour the island in order to look for her."

Upon hearing the man's voice calling out again, Ronnie asks "So are we just going to let that Sebastian guy keep screaming for help or..."

"I suppose we better go see what we can do to help him." stated Ivy before making her way out of the room, only to stop in order to look at the three Americans before she left. "Until Miss Selphy is found, I'm afraid we'll have to postpone your mock battles. I hope you understand."

While Ronnie opened her mouth to protest this decision, Bobby suggests "How about we come out and help you four with finding her? We might be able to locate her quicker with more people searching the island."

Hands on her hips, Faith answers "I don't know...while the extra help would be appreciated, you three only just arrived here a few days ago. I doubt you'll be able to find your way around Five Island so easily without one of us helping you out. It's bad enough that Selphy's gotten herself lost again, but we don't need you three losing your way around here, either."

"Well, we can't just sit here and wait for you four to come back here, either." retorted Ronnie, arms crossed. "You said it yourself - this girl's got a really bad sense of direction. Who knows how long it'll take for you to return?"

Nodding, Ivy comments "That's a fair point. Hmm..." before her eyes lit up as an idea formed in her mind. "How about the six of you pair up with each other to form three different search parties?"

"That could work. We'd have more people looking for Selphy and we'd be able to keep you guys from getting lost, too." said Faith with a nod of her own. Running over to Bobby and grabbing his arm, she quickly states "I call the cute one!"

Stomping a foot on the floor, Charity complains "No fair! I was going to call him first!"

"Well, you shouldn't have been such a Slowpoke. Now hurry up and pick someone to pair with already - the sooner we get this done, the better."

After grumbling several obscenities about her sister, Charity motions for Clyde to come over to her.

While the nerdy boy made his way over to her fuming sister, Hope remarks "Guess that means you're with me, short stuff.", causing Ronnie to shrug before walking over.

"Works for me. Maybe I'll spot a few Pokemon that catch my interest while I'm helping you out with looking around."

Upon hearing this, an idea started to spark in Professor Ivy's mind - one that would end up taking care of two problems in one fell swoop.

"...How would you three like to make an arrangement? One that may allow you three to bypass the requirement of competing in a mock battle before you pass the exam fully?"

While the Virtues looked at Ivy in surprise, Bobby asks "Uh...sure, I guess. What do you have in mind?"

"Well...Miss Santiago mentioned that she'll be keeping an eye out for potential members of her team a few moments ago, correct?" said Ivy, causing the six to nod. "Then here's the deal I'll offer you three - if you manage to capture at least one Pokemon during your search for Miss Selphy, I'll waive the mock battle requirement and allow you to pass. However, you must defeat the Pokemon in question during a battle first before you capture it."

"Aw...does that mean we won't get to face off against them, Professor?" whined Hope in disappointment.

"If they fail to capture something before coming back to the lab, then we'll see about arranging a battle in order to determine if they fully pass the Trainer's Exam or not." answered Ivy, arms crossed. "As for you, Charity and Faith...you'll be observing our guests as they attempt to capture a Pokemon, making sure that they follow the stipulation of battling it first."

Eyes widening in understanding, Faith says "Oh...I get it now. That will count as their qualifying 'battle', right?"

"Indeed. But of course, in order for our guests to be able to catch a Pokemon..." started Ivy before taking three empty Pokeballs out of her coat pocket and tossing them over. "...They're going to need an empty Pokeball first."

Giving Bobby a look, she adds "And you still need to pick your starter, Mr. Santiago. Until you do, I can't allow you leave the lab."

Nodding quickly, Bobby runs over to the bag and snatches up a random Pokeball before heading back to Faith's side.

Satisfied, Ivy says "Very good. Now then, since we've established the conditions needed for you to pass this part of the exam, I believe we should be on our way to meet Sebastian. Perhaps we'll learn something from him about Selphy's possible location." before starting to head towards the door, only to stop as she started to open it. "Right, I almost forgot...Hope? Did you also remember to bring 'them' with you?"

"'Them'?" parroted Hope in confusion before suddenly realizing what Ivy was referring to. Reaching into her pocket, she adds "Oh, right! Yeah, I've got them right here!" before taking out two Pokedexes and holding them out to Ronnie and Clyde. "There you two go - your Pokedexes."

"An actual Pokedex...wow..." mused Clyde as he took one of them and opened it up. "So this is what it feels like to own one."

"It's pretty cool, I guess. Would look better if it was purple, though." commented Ronnie, looking at the one she was holding.

"What exactly is a Pokedex anyway, Professor? The only thing I've heard about them is the name." asked Bobby, eyeing the two devices curiously.

"It's a device meant to gather data on Pokemon, Mr. Santiago. Due to the fact that only official Pokemon Professors are allowed to distribute them to Trainers of their choosing and they're incredibly hard to come by, some Trainers see them as a mark of skill and prestige." answered Ivy, pointing at the two Pokedexes.

"That's not all they're capable of either." added Charity before ticking off several fingers. "They can browse the internet, make phone calls, check e-mail, take pictures..."

Taking in what he was being told, Bobby asked "So...they're pretty much smartphones that can collect data on Pokemon?"

"I suppose you can see it that way." said Charity with a shrug before giving Ronnie and Clyde a slightly envious look. "What I wouldn't give to have a 'Dex of my own...you two are lucky, you know that?"

"Really lucky." added Faith with an equally jealous look on her face while Hope nodded her head. "In any case, we better get going, right Professor?"

"Yes, I believe that would be a good idea. Let's go."

-=O=-

-Skies Above Five Island (9:10 AM)-

Somewhere above the skies of Five Island, a black-colored crow-like Pokemon with a yellow beak, red eyes, two yellow feet, a black tail that resembled the tail end of a broom and a tuft of feathers on its head that resembled a hat flew through the air, eyes watching for shiny-looking valuables to steal from anyone that caught its attention.

This Pokemon was a Murkrow - a Dark/Flying Pokemon that was believed to bring bad luck to whoever it crosses.

This one in particular however...it was going through a rough patch of bad luck of its own - it had gotten into several scraps with several wild Meowth and Persian over dropped change (and lost them quite handily), had its attempts of trying to steal jewelry thwarted by the people of the Sevii Islands and ended up losing out a chance at a decent meal that morning due to yet another fight, this time with another Murkrow.

All in all, this wasn't a good day for it so far.

-=O=-

-Five Island - Southern Beach (9:10 AM)-

Near the southern shores of Five Island, a pink-colored Pokemon with short limbs, a widely-opened mouth, two round, vacant-looking eyes and a cream-colored muzzle lounged on the sands of one of the island's many beaches, apparently enjoying the sunshine as it submerged its tail into the ocean.

This Pokemon was a Slowpoke - a Water/Psychic Pokemon with quite possibly one of the slowest reaction times in the known Pokemon world.

The only other Pokemon who could match it in slowness was the legendary Pokemon Regigigas, though that was more due to Slow Start effecting it than anything else. Once that wore off, the master of the Regi trio (although there have been rumors of two more Regis existing elsewhere) was just as dangerous as any other Legendary Pokemon.

But this Slowpoke...'slow' was too quick of a term to describe this particular one. Even 'glacial' was too fast. This one was, quite possibly, the slowest of the Slowpoke living among the Sevii Islands.

-=O=-

-Lost Cave (9:10 AM)-

Within the Lost Cave just north of Professor Ivy's Laboratory, a dark green-colored Pokemon with wispy, purple-tipped hair-like fixtures on its head and a row of red pearl-like objects around its neck floated around the darkened cavern, completely bored out of its mind.

This Pokemon was a Misdreavus - a pure Ghost-Type Pokemon known for frightening anyone it met and gaining nourishment from their fear.

The reason for it's boredom? It was tired of scaring the people living on Five Island. Sure, it still did it even now and then in order to feed - even if it was a Ghost-Type, it still had to eat - but it was starting to grow bored of frightening the same people out of their wits over and over again. The fact it was mainly a nocturnal Pokemon didn't help matters along either - if it wasn't for that, this particular Misdreavus would've moved onto one of the other Sevii Islands and tried its luck there.

As the Misdreavus continued on its way, its stomach started to grumble, causing it to grimace before moving deeper into the darker reaches of the cave.

-=O=-

-Deeper Within The Lost Cave (9:15 AM)-

Further within the darkest part of the Lost Cave, a finely dressed woman with blonde hair and a bluish-purple colored Persian with a rounder face and a blue gem on its forehead wandered through the darkness of the cavern, their path illuminated by the Flash attack coming from the Classy Cat Pokemon's head.

This woman was Selphy, owner of Resort Gorgeous and the very person that, unknown to her, Sebastian was frantically searching for. Beside her was her trusty Persian, which she had raised from a Meowth that was imported to her from the Alola region.

"Such a dreadfully dark place. No matter how many times I find myself wandering into this cave, I never seem to be able to find my way out of it." remarked Selphy dryly, sounding rather annoyed with her current situation as she looked around the cave.

"Well, we wouldn't be in this mess if you had just waited for Sebastian to show up first." remarked the Persian, giving her a glance. "But no, you just had to decide to go for a walk instead of just staying at home. Well, now look where you've gotten us - both of us are stuck inside of this cave because of your poor sense of direction."

Having an idea on what the Dark-Type was implying based on its tone, Selphy huffs "I'll have you know that my sense of direction is just fine! We'll find our way out of this cave in a few moments, you'll see."

"You said that twice within the span of the last two hours, remember?" countered the Persian, giving her a deadpan look. "Face it, Mistress - we're lost."

"No, we're not! Don't give me that look, mister!"

"Yes, we are!"

"Are not!"

"Are so!"

In an instant, the two's argument turns into full-on bickering, causing the Pokemon living nearby to watch on with mixed looks of annoyance, amusement and in the case of the Misdreavus that had just entered the area...hunger.

-=O=-

-Five Island - Outside Professor Ivy's Laboratory (9:20 AM)-

While Selphy and her Persian continued their argument with each other, a middle-aged man dressed as a butler was standing in front of Professor Ivy's laboratory, patiently waiting for the plum-haired woman herself to show up.

This man was Sebastian, Selphy's ever-loyal butler and her most trusted confidant.

As he continued to wonder on where his employer had wandered off to, the butler sighed as he recalled exactly how he had discovered that she had went missing earlier that morning...

-Flashback-

_-Selphy's Villa - Bedroom (7:15 AM)-_

_"Good morning, Lady Selphy. I've brought your breakfast for you." greeted Sebastian warmly as he stepped through the door leading to Selphy's bedroom, holding a silver platter with his employer's meal arranged neatly on it. Upon finding no sign of his employer anywhere, he raises an eyebrow before placing the platter on a nearby table. "...Lady Selphy? Hello?"_

_After spending a few minutes looking for her, his eyes catch onto a neatly folded letter at the foot of Selphy's bed. Curious on what it had to say, Sebastian carefully picks it up and opens it before reading its contents._

_"Let's see...'Went for a morning walk. I'll be back within the hour - Selphy'..." muttered Sebastian as he read through the surprisingly brief letter. After taking a moment to look at a nearby grandfather clock and estimating that Selphy had been gone for much longer than her specified time frame, he mutters "Oh no...it's happened again..."_

_He wasn't surprised that something like this had happened - it had become an almost weekly thing for Selphy to somehow get herself lost somewhere on the island. However, unlike those instances, she had been gone for over an hour, which usually meant that it was going to be even more of a chore to locate her._

_"I'll never understand how Lady Selphy manages to get herself lost so easily. One would think that with how often it happens, she would know her way around the entirety of Five Island by now. I suppose I should consider myself lucky that she hasn't tried leaving the island yet." grumbled Sebastian to himself before placing the letter back onto the bed and making his way out of the room, intent on making his way to the residence of the only people who could help him track down his wayward employer - Professor Ivy and her assistants._

-Flashback End-

"I still can't believe that Lady Selphy had wandered off without me again. What in the world was she thinking?" muttered Sebastian to himself as he continued to wait for someone to answer the door. "I really need to look into finding something that will allow me to find her easier. Perhaps I should see about purchasing a tracker chip or something...no, I can't do that to Lady Selphy. It's not proper to treat her like some beast to be tagged and tracked down. Maybe I could see about capturing a Psychic-Type with Teleport and just have that bring her to me instead when she wanders off..."

Before he could finish his musings, Sebastian heard the sound of the lab's door opening, allowing Ivy, her assistants and her three American guests to step outside.

"Hello, Sebastian." greeted Ivy with a wave. "...Did Miss Selphy get herself lost again?"

"Unfortunately, yes. And she's been gone for well over two hours." replied Sebastian, nodding. "There's no telling where on Five Island she could be at this point."

Taking notice of Ronnie, Clyde and Bobby, he raises an eyebrow before commenting "Oh...I didn't know you had guests over, Professor. Are they from one of the other islands?"

"They came from the United States, actually." answered Hope before gesturing towards the three Michigan natives. "Meet Ronnie Anne Santiago, her older brother Bobby and Clyde McBride. They came here to try their hand at becoming Pokemon Trainers."

"I see...well, it's nice to meet you three. I wish that it could've been under different circumstances, but..."

"Say no more, sir. Professor Ivy and her assistants have already given us a summary on what's going on." said Bobby, shaking his head. "We're willing to help you find the person you're looking for, if you like."

Nodding, Sebastian answers "That would be most appreciable, young man. Thank you."

"Alright, enough chit-chat. Where do we start searching?" asked Ronnie suddenly, causing Ivy and Sebastian to look at her for a moment before the former answered her question.

"I think we should take four different locations and start searching from there. Sebastian?"

"Yes, Professor?"

"You and I will search Resort Gorgeous and the area surrounding it. There may be a chance that Selphy may not have strayed far from her villa." said Ivy, causing the butler to nod in response. "Miss Santiago?"

"Yeah?" replied Ronnie, unaware of the Murkrow that was flying towards her, eyes gleaming.

With a loud, triumphant cry, the Darkness Pokemon swoops down and snatches something from her - one of the many good luck charms that her grandmother had given her.

"Hey! You thieving little...get back here!"

As Ronnie started to chase after the Murkrow, Ivy shakes her head before saying "Hope?"

"I'm on it, Professor." replied Hope with a nod before running off to catch up with the Hispanic girl. "Hey, wait up! Slow down!"

Turning her attention to Clyde and Charity, Ivy says "You two will check the southern part of the island. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Professor!" chimed Charity and Clyde in unison, causing the plum-haired woman to nod in approval before waving them off.

"On your way, then. If you find Selphy, bring her back to the lab. As for you, Mr. Santiago..."

"Yeah?" asked Bobby, wondering where Ivy wanted him and Faith to go.

"You'll be checking the Lost Cave with Faith, since she's the only one among us with a Fire-Type Pokemon that'll be able to light the way through the cavern." stated Ivy, arms crossed. "Be very careful in there, you two - out of all of the locations we're searching, the interior of the Lost Cave is among the most dangerous."

"We'll be careful, Professor." said Faith before giving Bobby a smile and a sly wink. "C'mon, Bobby. Let's go."

"Uh...okay." replied Bobby uneasily as he followed his partner north towards their assigned destination.

As he watched Bobby and Faith walk off, Sebastian asks "Will they be alright, Professor? The Americans, I mean?"

"They'll be fine, Sebastian. Now come along - we need to start searching for Selphy as soon as possible."

"Of course. Lead the way."

As Professor Ivy started to leave the area with Sebastian, they remained unaware of the white and blue figure that was flying high in the sky above Five Island with a look of intrigue on its face. After a moment, it flew off in order to get a better look at the ones that had caught it's interest.

-=O=-

-Five Island - With Ronnie & Hope (9:45 AM)-

"Get back here, you little thief! That's mine!" barked Ronnie as she continued her pursuit of the Murkrow that had stolen from her earlier, who seemed to be doing everything it could to try and lose the one who was chasing it.

Unfortunately for the Dark-Type, the girl had been on its tail since the chase began and didn't seem to be slowing down any time soon.

"Geez...just give up already, will ya? You're starting to tire me out here!" cawed the Darkness Pokemon as it took a look back to glare at Ronnie, only for its eyes to widen in shock upon seeing that not only was she still chasing after it, but was rapidly closing the distance as well. "Crap! Of all the people I had to steal from, why'd it have to be someone this persistent?! Damn it!"

Not too far behind Ronnie was Hope, who was struggling to catch up with her.

"S-slow down...I can't keep up..." mumbled the glasses-wearing girl as she stopped to catch her breath. "Oh, by Arceus...my lungs hurt..."

Instead of complying, Ronnie continued to chase the Murkrow, grabbing the occasional rock or stick to throw at it.

Rearing back a hefty-looking stick as she took aim at the dark-colored avian, Ronnie snarls "That's my charm! Give. It. Back!" before hurling the stick with everything she had, causing it to fly through the air before smacking the Murkrow in the face.

With a surprised cry, the Darkness Pokemon accidentally drops the charm from its beak, immediately prompting Ronnie to start running towards it in order to catch it.

Recovering quickly from the blow, the Murkrow snarls "Oh no, you don't! That's mine - I stole it fair and square!" before swooping down to retrieve the charm.

Almost at the same time, hand and beak clasped firmly onto the charm, causing both Murkrow and Ronnie to stare at each other for a moment before an impromptu game of tug-of-war broke out between them.

"Let go! This is mine, not yours!"

"It's mine, you stubborn human! I stole it, so it belongs to me!"

Nearby, Hope, having finally caught up with Ronnie and the Murkrow, stood by, wondering if she should help the Michigan native get her charm back or start cracking up at the absurdity of the situation in front of her.

A second or two later, she chose to do the latter.

"This isn't funny, damn it!" barked Ronnie, glaring at the now-laughing Hope while still keeping a firm grasp on the charm, much to the Murkrow's annoyance.

"Yeah, it is! I've seen a lot of things during my time here on Five Island, but a girl and a Murkrow fighting over some charm isn't one of them! This is hilarious!"

Face flushing in anger, Ronnie snarls "No, it isn't!" before turning back to face the Murkrow, who was glaring daggers at her while attempting to use its feet to pry her hands off of the charm. After tightening her grip on the charm with one of her hands, she uses the other one to shove the Darkness Pokemon away, causing it to let out a surprised cry as it loses its grip on its prize. "Got it!"

"And you call me a thief! You're a hypocrite!" snapped the Murkrow, taking to the air as Ronnie pocketed the charm. "There's no way in hell I'm going to let you walk away with MY shiny new prize! I'm challenging you to a fight - right here, right now! The winner gets the spoils!"

At this point, the Dark-Type would've just left in order to try its luck somewhere else. However, after finally managing to have one thing go right for it today, only for it to be literally snatched away from him, it wasn't going to leave this time.

It was going to take that charm back, no matter what.

Noticing that the dark-colored avian wasn't leaving, Hope remarks "...I'm not sure, but I think it wants to battle you, short stuff."

"A battle, huh?" questioned Ronnie, eyeing the Murkrow curiously. After a moment, she smirks and nods, adding "Yeah, I think it'll do."

"It'll do? For what?"

"The Pokemon I have to battle, then capture in order to become an official Trainer. That little flying pain-in-the-neck will do nicely."

"You're the pain around here! If you had just let me leave with my prize, we wouldn't be in this situation right now!" cawed the Murkrow, incensed. "And there's no way I'm gonna let you capture me! No way, no how!"

"Well, if you're going to battle it, you may as well do it now." suggested Hope, shrugging. "Go ahead and send out your starter. Just remember - press and throw!"

"Gladly." replied Ronnie before taking the Pokeball she had chosen earlier out of her pocket. After looking at the ball for a moment, she mutters "...Press and throw. Got it." before following through with Hope's instructions and sending out whatever she had picked out from the bag.

After the Pokeball's burst of light finishes materializing into a solid form, Hope raised her eyebrows at the Pokemon that was now in front of Ronnie Anne - a stubby yellow and blue snake-like Pokemon with small wings and a drill-like tail.

Eyes widening as she stared at the Pokemon, the Hispanic girl thought 'This Pokemon...it's the one from my dream...'

Murkrow, meanwhile, had a different thing to say about it's opponent.

"A Dunsparce! Ha! This'll be easy!" mocked the Darkness Pokemon, beak curving into a grin.

"Of all of the Pokemon you had to pick, it ended up being the Dunsparce." commented Hope, shaking her head with a wry smile on her face. "Faith's not going to be happy when she finds out about this."

"Not my fault I ended up picking the one Pokemon she wanted to keep." remarked Ronnie as she took out her Pokedex. "Right then...I think I need to use this thing before I do anything else. How do I get it to work?"

_'Just point me at the Pokemon you want me to scan and I'll handle the rest.'_ stated a female voice from the Pokedex's speaker. _'You must be my new owner, correct?'_

Eyebrow raised at the device in her hand, Ronnie answers "Uh...yeah. Nice to meet you, I guess?"

_'Likewise. In any case, we should save the introductions for later, considering that you have a battle to start. Shall I begin scanning?'_

"Sure, I guess. Go nuts."

_'Of course. One moment.'_ replied the Pokedex before scanning the two Pokemon in front of it. _'Scan complete. Shall I start with the Dunsparce or the Murkrow?'_

"Doesn't matter. Just give me the rundown on both of them, will ya?" answered Ronnie with a shrug, causing the Pokedex to beep before starting on the first entry.

_'Dunsparce, the Land Snake Pokemon. Dunsparce has a drill for its tail. It uses this tail to burrow into the ground backward. This Pokémon is known to make its nest in complex shapes deep under the ground. This male Dunsparce is Level 11 and knows the moves Defense Curl, Rollout, Screech, Rage and the Egg Move Headbutt.'_

_'Murkrow, the Darkness Pokemon. Murkrow was feared and loathed as the alleged bearer of ill fortune. This Pokémon shows strong interest in anything that sparkles or glitters. It will even try to steal rings from women. This Level 13 Murkrow is Male and knows the moves Astonish, Peck, Haze and the Egg Move Punishment.'_

"Wow, two entire Egg Moves. Lucky you." commented Hope, nodding in approval. "You think your Dunsparce can handle that Murkrow, short stuff?"

"I don't think it can. I know it can." replied Ronnie, causing the Land Snake Pokemon to give her a look.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, I guess. I'll do what I can to help you out."

"Not like it's going to do her any good." remarked the Murkrow, grin widening. "I'll mop you up and then take what's mine back. Might even steal that shiny red thing she's holding, too."

"You won't get the chance." stated Dunsparce, taking on a readied posture.

"Oh yeah? Well, we'll see about..." started the Murkrow before suddenly bursting forward towards Dunsparce and letting out a loud, startling cry in his face while attempting to slap him with his wings.

Instead of looking even the slightest bit intimidated or frightened, the Normal-Type tilted his head, asking "...What the heck are you doing?"

"What the hell does it look like I'm doing?! I'm using Astonish!" answered the Darkness Pokemon irritably before attempting to spook his opponent again. After a few more attempts with nothing happening, the Murkrow mutters "I don't get it. Why isn't it working?"

Almost as if to answer his question, Ronnie's Pokedex states _'Astonish, a physical-based Ghost-Type move. The user attacks the foe while shouting in a startling fashion. This move may also cause the target to flinch.'_

"Uh-huh...and why isn't it working on Dunsparce?" asked Ronnie as the Murkrow attempted to use Astonish on her Dunsparce again, to no effect.

_'Normal-Type Pokemon, like your Dunsparce, are immune to Ghost-Type moves. The same thing applies for Ghost-Type Pokemon - Normal-Type moves do not effect them unless Foresight is used first.'_

Hearing this, Ronnie grins and says "Thanks for the heads-up. Now let's see if I can do this right...Dunsparce, use Headbutt!"

"On it. This bird's starting to get on my nerves." replied the Land Snake Pokemon before slamming his head hard into the Murkrow's beak, sending it careening through the air before crashing onto the ground.

"Ugh...cheap shot." muttered the Murkrow, rubbing his sore beak with one of his wings. "Well, if Astonish won't do the trick, let's try something else. It's Punishment time."

With that said, the Dark-Type takes to the air again before diving directly at his opponent as a dark purple aura started to coat his body.

Recognizing the attack, Hope exclaimes "That's got to be Punishment! Watch out!"

"Get ready to tank it, Dunsparce! Use Defense..." started Ronnie, only for her Pokedex to beep, cutting her off.

_'Inadvisable. Punishment grows stronger with every stat-boosting move the opponent uses, including Defense Curl.'_

Hearing the Pokedex's words, the Murkrow snaps "Hey, that's cheating! No fair!"

"Says the guy who tried to get a sucker attack in with Astonish earlier."

"I'm a Dark-Type. I'm not supposed to play fair." retorted the Darkness Pokemon before hitting Dunsparce with his Punishment attack, which caused the Normal-Type to take damage, but nowhere nearly as much as it would've taken if it had used Defense Curl earlier.

"You alright, Dunsparce?" asked Ronnie, concerned.

Giving her a nod, the yellow and blue Pokemon answers "I'm fine. What's our next move?"

Taking the look she was being given as a sign that he was alright, Ronnie thinks for a moment, wondering what Lincoln would do in a situation like this.

'There's no way Dunsparce will be able to reach that Murkrow while he's up in the air...not without a little creativity, anyway.' thought the Hispanic girl to herself. "Dunsparce, I need you to use Rollout to buy some time. How fast are you when you use it?"

"I can move quickly when I'm rolled up. Even faster if Defense Curl is used beforehand."

Even though she didn't know what her Pokemon was saying, Ronnie answers "Let's go with using it then. I need you to buy some time until I figure out what we need to do to take that Murkrow down. Can you do that for me?"

With a nod, the Normal-Type curls up into a ball and starts rolling towards his opponent at high speed.

As if to mock Dunsparce's efforts, the Murkrow flies up a little higher into the air.

"Ha! Let's see you try to hit me from up here!"

While Dunsparce continued to build up speed from all of his rolling, Ronnie eyes both him and the Murkrow for a moment before an idea suddenly sparked in her mind.

"When I give you the order, I want you to uncurl as quickly as possible, Dunsparce!"

"Understood...uugh..I'm starting to get dizzy..." replied Dunsparce shakily.

"Just a little more...a little more..." muttered Ronnie to herself as the Normal-Type sped towards Murkrow, who was now waggling his tongue and wings in a mocking maaner. "...Now! Do it now!"

Following the command, Dunsparce rapidly uncurls, causing the momentum from the high speed rolling he had been doing before to suddenly launch him into the air towards the Murkrow, who let out a startled cry upon seeing this.

"What the fu-"

"Now follow it up with a Headbutt!"

Before the Murkrow could do anything to counter the attack coming his way, Dunsparce's Headbutt hits home, sending the avian crashing hard into a nearby tree.

"Ugh...I should've just taken my chances and left while I had the chance..." muttered the Dark-Type as he slowly slid down the tree before landing on the ground, completely spent.

Pointing at the Murkrow, Hope shouts "Now! Throw a Pokeball at it now!", causing Ronnie to nod before quickly tossing the Pokeball that Professor Ivy had given her earlier at the fallen Darkness Pokemon.

Seeing the ball coming, the Murkrow could only mutter "Aw, crap..." before it hit him flush in the beak, causing the red and white orb to open up before turning his body into red-colored energy that was quickly sucked inside.

After a few seconds of weak struggling...the ball goes still with a flash, signalling that the capture was successful.

"Alright! I caught it!" cheered Ronnie, clearly pleased with herself. Picking up her Dunsparce, she adds "Thanks for the help, Dunsparce! You've helped me out with more than just catching that Murkrow today!"

"You're welcome, I suppose. Can you recall me back, please? I'm still dizzy from all of that rolling..." asked Dunsparce, pointing his tail at his Pokeball.

Taking that as a sign that he wanted to be recalled, Ronnie complies with the request readily - after everything that had just happened, the Normal-Type definitely earned the rest.

"Nice work, short stuff! You pass!" congratulated Hope as she walked over and clapped Ronnie on the back. "Definitely didn't expect you to use Rollout in such an unusual manner. How'd you come up with something like that?"

"I just thought about what Lam...er, Lincoln would do in a situation like this." answered Ronnie as she walked over and picked up the Pokeball that now held her newly-captured Pokemon. "So now that we've got this out of the way, I guess we better start searching for that Selphy girl, right?"

"Yep. Let's get to it."

As she started to follow Hope out of the area, Ronnie thought 'I wonder how the others are doing right now...hopefully they're having the same luck with catching a Pokemon, too.'

In the skies above, the blue and white figure from before watched as the two girls left the area, it's interest piqued even further.

Seconds later, it flies off once again in order to observe one of the other two that had caught it's attention.

-=O=-

-Five Island - With Charity & Clyde (10:00 AM)-

"Well, here we are - the southern beach." remarked Charity upon arriving with Clyde right beside her. "We'll split up from here - you start searching the beach while I'll take to the waters and look there. Deal?"

Nodding, Clyde answers "That'll work for me. Maybe I'll find something to..." before his eyes catch onto a Slowpoke lazing on the sands nearby. After staring at it for a moment, he points at it and asks "...Charity?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"...What's that thing? It looks kinda...dopey."

Noticing what Clyde was pointing at, Charity raises an eyebrow before commenting "Huh...a Slowpoke. Usually they don't stray very far from the other islands. I wonder what this one's doing here."

"They're not native to Five Island?" asked Clyde, eyeing the pink-colored Pokemon curiously.

"Nope. They can be found in lots of places here in the Sevii Islands area, but Five Island's not one of them." remarked the glasses-wearing girl, shaking her head. "Probably washed up from one of the other islands, if I had to take a guess. Probably Six Island."

"Uh-huh...and how is it as a Pokemon? Is it any good at fighting?"

Shrugging, Charity answers "Not that I know of. Slowpoke are just that - slow. It'll probably take a while for it to actually register that you're challenging it to a battle if you decide to go for it. You are thinking about going for it, right?"

Nodding, Clyde answers "Considering it. What does it evolve into?", causing a smile to form on the brunette's face.

"Now that's the interesting thing about Slowpoke that a lot of people overlook when it comes to catching one - they can evolve into two different Pokemon based on what you do with them."

"I'm listening..." said Clyde, intrigued.

"Well, if you decide to just level it up to the point where it'll evolve, you'll get a Slowbro. While they're not as slow as their pre-evolved forms, they're just as dim-witted." answered Charity as she held up a single finger for a moment before holding up another one. "But if you get a King's Rock and get someone to help you evolve it through trading, you'll get a Slowking. Unlike Slowpoke and Slowbro, they're smart. Intelligent enough to speak full English, even."

"Then that's the one I'll go for after I catch that Slowpoke." said Clyde, grinning as he eyed the Water-Type eagerly. "A Pokemon that can actually talk back to me sounds pretty cool."

Motioning for the nerdy boy to try his luck, Charity replies "Go for it.", causing him to run over before pointing at the Slowpoke, who just kept staring blankly at the scenery in front of it.

"Slowpoke, I'm challenging you to a battle!"

No response came from the Dopey Pokemon. Not even a blink.

Perplexed, Clyde raises an eyebrow before asking "...Hello? Didn't you hear me? I said that I wanted to challenge you."

Again, no response.

Now perterbed by the lack of response he was getting, Clyde walks over and starts prodding the Slowpoke's body, only to get no response.

"...I think something's wrong with it. It's not moving or anything like that."

"Maybe it's a lot slower to react than the usual fare." commented Charity, eyeing the Water-Type curiously. "Well, you might as well go ahead and send your Pokemon out to battle it. Gives you a better chance of capturing it, right?"

"Fair enough." answered Clyde before taking his Pokeball out of his pocket. After taking a moment to recall what he had read a few days ago about sending a Pokemon out to battle, he activates the ball and throws it, causing it to send out the Pokemon that dwelled inside.

Upon seeing the small light blue-colored elephant-like Pokemon with beady black eyes and red pad-like growths on its trunk and ears that stood in front of Clyde, Charity comments "A Phanpy...you picked a pretty good starter there, kiddo." with a nod of approval. "Why don't you go ahead and try out your Pokedex on it?"

Recalling that he was given the red-colored device earlier, Clyde mutters "Right...I can actually do that now. Let's see here..." before taking it out of his pocket and pointing it at the Phanpy. "Um...can you do that thing, please? The thing where you tell me about the Pokemon I'm pointing at?"

_'You're referring to scanning a Pokemon for a Dex Entry, correct?'_ replied a female voice from the Pokedex's speaker, causing Clyde to look at the device oddly before nodding his head.

"Uh...yeah. That. Can you do that, please?"

_'For just your Phanpy? Or would you like for me to scan the Slowpoke as well?'_

Thinking that scanning the Dopey Pokemon would also be a good call to make, Clyde answers "Both, I guess."

'One moment.' replied the voice simply before the Pokedex lets out a beeping sound, attending to the task it had been assigned. _'Scan complete. Phanpy, the Long Nose Pokemon. For its nest, Phanpy digs a vertical pit in the ground at the edge of a river. It marks the area around its nest with its trunk to let the others know that the area has been claimed. This female Phanpy is Level 12 and knows the moves Flail, Odor Sleuth, Growl and the Egg Move Play Rough.'_

After another beep, the voice then adds _'Slowpoke, the Dopey Pokemon. __Slowpoke uses its tail to catch prey by dipping it in water at the side of a river. However, this Pokemon often forgets what it's doing and often spends entire days just loafing at water's edge__. This male Slowpoke is Level 9 and knows the moves Curse, Tackle, Yawn and Water Gun.'_

"Thanks for the help." replied Clyde with a nod before turning his attention back to the Slowpoke, who was...still just lazing about, doing nothing. "...Is it just going to stay like that? Shouldn't it be...I dunno...fighting back?"

"Like I said, Slowpoke are incredibly slow to react." answered Charity, shrugging. "It's weird though...normally they wouldn't take this long to react. This one must be really, really slow. Like 'slower than half-frozen molasses' slow."

"Well, then I guess I better make the first move." said Clyde before giving his Phanpy a glance. "Um...hi there. Do you mind helping me with catching that Slowpoke?"

Waving her trunk cheerily in response, the Ground-Type answered "Sure thing! You seem like a pretty nice guy, so I'll do my best to help you out!" before turning to face the Slowpoke, who hadn't moved a single inch. "Now give me an order! C'mon!"

Taking that as his cue to proceed, Clyde says "Okay then...uh, try using...er, Growl?"

Accepting the command, Phanpy glares at the Slowpoke while letting out a cute, but menacing-sounding growl...which promptly had no effect on the Slowpoke whatsoever.

Eyeing the Water-Type curiously as she sauntered over and prodded him with her trunk, the Long Nose Pokemon remarks "...Wow. I think this Slowpoke might actually be broken or something. That didn't do anything to it."

"Uh...okay, that didn't work. How about a Flail attack?"

"Okay, now that's more like it! Let's see how it likes this!" exclaimed Phanpy before flailing her trunk at Slowpoke's body, landing a solid hit on it.

Despite the damage it had just taken, the Water-Type didn't budge an inch. If anything, he seemed uneffected by the attack.

"...Seriously? Nothing?"

"Wow...that is one slow Slowpoke." commented Charity, eyebrows raised. "By now, the Growl attack would've at least effected it."

"...Do you think it'll notice me trying to capture it?" asked Clyde, taking the other Pokeball out of his pocket. "This isn't going to go against what Professor Ivy told us to do, will it?"

"Nah, you're good. You didn't technically defeat it, but since I'm pretty sure that it's not going to be fighting back anytime soon, I think we'll call this battle as yours. Go ahead and catch it."

"Alright then." said Clyde before pointing at Slowpoke, who...was still lazing in the same spot. "Get ready, Slowpoke! You're coming with me!"

With that said, the nerdy boy runs over and hurls the Pokeball at the Dopey Pokemon, causing the ball to bounce off of his head before sucking him inside and falling onto the sandy ground below.

Interestingly enough, the Pokeball didn't even wobble once as the button on the front flashed on and off. It just...sat there until the light flashed one last time, signalling a successful capture.

"And that's that. Nice work, Clyde." commented Charity, nodding in approval. "Now hurry up and collect your new Pokemon so we can get this search for Selphy over with and done. I wanna get it out of the way so we can get back to the lab."

"You got it." replie Clyde before walking over and picking up the Pokeball. Looking it over proudly, he mutters "...My first Pokemon Capture...wow." while Phanpy walks over to speak to him.

"So how'd I do? Did I do good enough for you?"

Noticing the little elephant-like Pokemon, Clyde knelt down and patted her head, causing her to let out a coo of delight.

"Nice work, Phanpy. We've only known each other for a few minutes, but I'm proud of you for managing to technically win your first battle."

Grabbing his hand with her trunk, Phanpy replies "Thanks! Next time, I'll make sure to win more decisively - that's a promise!"

"Hey, are you two almost done over there? We've got a search to start, remember?" asked Charity as she took a Pokeball out of her pocket and threw it towards the ocean, causing it to release a blue-colored duck-like Pokemon with a red gem on its forehead.

"Right...sorry. You're going to search the waters, right?"

"And you're searching the beach. If you find Selphy, stay with her so she doesn't wander off again. I'll catch up with you after I'm done."

With a nod, Clyde and Phanpy start scouring the beach for any sign of Selphy while Charity takes off her clothing to reveal a one-piece swimsuit underneath.

After swimming over to the duck-like Pokemon and clinging onto its back, the glasses-wearing girl says "Alright Golduck, use Surf! We've got a clueless, directionless blonde to find!", causing the Pokemon to give her a nod before rapidly swimming away from the shore.

Above them, the same mysterious figure from before watches Clyde and Phanpy for a few moments before flying off to find the third member of the American trio.

-=O=-

-Inside The Lost Cave (10:10 AM)-

"So this is the Lost Cave, huh? You really think that Selphy might actually be in here?" asked Bobby as he peered into the darkened entrance of the cave.

"Possibly. Possibly not. There's no telling when it comes to that woman." replied Faith, rolling her eyes as she took a Pokeball out of her pocket. "Still, it couldn't hurt to check and see if she's inside, right?"

"I guess. So why do they call it 'Lost Cave'? Is there a story behind that?"

"There is, actually. It's said that if you don't know the trick to finding your way through the cavern, you're just going to end up looping back to where you were before or lose yourself deeper inside the cave. And that's not taking how dark it is into consideration..."

Giving him a stern look, she adds "Whatever you do, do NOT stray away from me, understand? We're here to search for Selphy, not get ourselves lost in the cave."

Nodding, Bobby comments "I'll try to remember that. Anyway, Professor Ivy said that you had something that could light the way though, right?"

"Yep. Lemme just send her out and..." started Faith before tossing the Pokeball she was holding, causing it to send out a cream-colored horse-like Pokemon with a flaming mane and tail. "There we go. We'll have Ponyta here to light things up for us. Speaking of Pokemon..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what your starter is? It might be able to make our search easier."

"I haven't checked to see what it is yet, but since you're bringing it up..." replied Bobby before taking a Pokeball out of his pocket. After taking a moment to mimic Faith's actions regarding her own Pokeball, he tosses it into the air, causing it to release the Pokemon inside in a burst of light.

After a moment, the light clears away, revealing a small green-colored bird with a yellow beak, magenta-colored feet, a single magenta feather on its head, a similarly-colored tail and two small wings that were colored black, magenta and yellow.

Seeing the questioning look on Bobby's face, Faith comments "That's a Natu. It's a Psychic/Flying-Type Pokemon that we caught while checking out Ruin Valley on Six Island."

"Looks kinda small." remarked Bobby before kneeling down to get a better look at it. "I'm not sure how it's going to help us find Selphy, to be honest."

"You must've missed the part where your friend mentioned that I was a Psychic-Type, then." remarked a voice within Bobby's mind, causing him to jump to his feet in shock.

Looking around, the teen asked "Who said that? Who's there?"

"Try looking down here at the Pokemon standing in front of you, idiot." replied the voice, causing Bobby to slowly his gaze down at the Natu, who was now looking directly into his eyes with its own. "There you go."

"You? You were the one who was speaking to me through my mind? How?"

"Comes with the role of being a Psychic-Type Pokemon." answered the Natu's voice simply. "I can also read that mind of yours too...not that there's much to read on it, admittedly."

"Is that right? Okay then, what number am I thinking of?"

"Forty-seven." answered the Tiny Bird Pokemon, causing Bobby's eyes to suddenly widen in shock. "Look, instead of testing my powers with petty little number games, let's focus on your current situation - namely the one where you're trying to find some human who may or may not be within this cave. Luckily for you, I can assist you with that."

"How so?"

"By using my powers. If I focus them enough, I should be able to see if this human of yours is inside this cave or not. If she's not here, then you can save yourselves the trouble of having to go inside."

"That's...actually pretty smart." commented Faith, scratching her head. "Why didn't we think of using a Psychic-Type to locate her in the first place?"

"Because you humans tend to overlook the most obvious answers when it comes to your problems." answered the Natu before turning its attention to the entrance of the cave. "Now shush. I need complete silence in order to focus my power properly."

With that said, both Faith and Bobby remain quiet as the Psychic-Type starts focusing deeply onto the entrance of the cave, causing an eerie light blue glow to form in its eyes.

After a moment, the glow fades as the Natu, sounding slightly fatigued, says "There's a human deep inside the cave. A female with a Persian, to be precise. They're currently bickering with each other over something."

Nodding, Faith replies "Yeah, that sounds about right. Looks like we found her." before giving the Tiny Bird Pokemon a look. "You know Teleport, right? Can you find Selphy and bring her here to us?"

"Unfortunately not. While I do know Teleport, it only works if I know where I'm going prior to using the move. I've never stepped foot into this cave, so the only thing that would end up happening would be me getting lost for a bit before Teleporting back here." answered the Natu telepathically. "However, while I can't bring her to you, I can guide you towards her location. Once we find her, I can then teleport all of us out of the cave and back here to the entrance."

After staring at the Natu for a moment or two, Faith says "...Yeah, we definitely need to get a Psychic-Type to help us with this next time. So how far in is she?"

"Around 30 or 40 meters, give or take. If we move now, we should be able to..." started the Natu before a loud, shrill-sounding scream suddenly bursts out of the cave. "...That doesn't sound good."

"Selphy's probably in danger! We need to hurry up and get her out of there!" exclaimed Bobby before running into the cave, ignoring the fact that Faith was trying to stop him from rushing inside.

After watching the teen disappear into the darkness of the cave, Faith mutters something about 'cute idiots' under her breath before running after him into the cave with her Ponyta while Natu perched itself onto her shoulder.

-=O=-

-Deeper Within The Lost Cave (10:15 AM)-

As Bobby and Faith started to make their way through the interior of the Lost Cave, Selphy and her Persian were standing directly in front of a Misdreavus, who was belting out a loud shrill-sounding Screech attack in the blonde's face in an attempt to frighten her.

It wasn't working, however. If anything, the noise was actually starting to get on Selphy's nerves.

"Can you stop, please? You're giving me a headache with that racket." asked Selphy dryly, causing the Screech Pokemon to stop long enough to give her a bewildered look. "Thank you."

"Are you fucking kidding me!? I'm trying to frighten you here! Why aren't you screaming in terror!?"

"Because you're honestly not really all that scary, frankly." stated the Persian at Selphy's side. "And watch your language. My Mistress may not be able to understand you, but I'm not going to tolerate you swearing in front of her."

"Piss off! I'm too hungry to give a damn about your precious little 'Mistress'!" barked the Misdreavus in turn before floating in front of Selphy's face and trying once again - through a combined use of Astonish and Screech - to get her to scream. "C'mon, scream! Scream, Arceus damn you! I'm starving!"

Shaking her head, Selphy mutters "And here I was thinking that it was done..." before giving her Persian a glance. "Percival?"

"I'm on it." replied the Classy Cat Pokemon before jumping into a defensive position in front of its Trainer. "Thank Arceus for making my kind a Dark-Type. This should only take a few..."

"Selphy?! Selphy, are you in here?! Answer me!" asked a male voice from another part of the cave, causing the three to look in its direction.

Seconds later, a female voice that Selphy recognized spoke up, saying "Slow down, Bobby! Don't run ahead of us like that!"

"Oh, good. It's about time that someone from the lab showed up. I was starting to wonder what was taking Sebastian so long with sending someone to help." commented Selphy airily before giving the Misdreavus a dry look. "My Persian and I must be going now. You and I will have to finish this some other time."

As the blonde turned to walk off, the Misdreavus - after spending several seconds staring at her in stunned disbelief - starts chasing after her, shouting "Hey, you get back here and feed me, damn it! I need your fear to nourish me!"

Before it could get close enough to attack her, something else had caught its attention - a teenage boy wearing blue jeans and green flannel that was running towards Selphy, who eyed him curiously as he approached her.

"...Well, you're certainly unfamiliar to me. Who are you?"

"Bobby Santiago. Uh...are you, by any chance, Selphy?"

"I am. And what does someone like you want with me?"

Before Bobby could answer her question, the Misdreavus, driven by it's current starvation, quickly flies over and Screeches in his face, causing him to let out a startled yelp before falling onto the ground rear-first.

Feeling the familiar sensation of its pearls absorbing fear-filled energy once more, the Ghost-Type sighs in relief, saying "Ah...that's the ticket. Much better." before smacking its lips slightly. "Hmm...this one's fear has a unique flavor to it. Spicy...yet oddly satisfying. Nowhere near as bland as the fear I've been eating for the past week or so."

In an instant, it turns to Bobby with a smile and adds "I want more." before floating towards him, intent on gathering more of the energy from its newfound prey.

As Bobby starts to move himself away from the Misdreavus, Faith, Ponyta and Natu manage to arrive at the scene just in time to see what's going on.

"There you are!" said Faith before pulling Bobby to his feet...and then smacking him across the back of his head. "What the heck were you thinking, running off like that?! I specifically told you not to stray. And what do you do once you hear that scream? You go and run off into the Lost Cave without me!"

"I was just trying to make sure that I wasn't too late to help Selphy...she sounded like she was terrified."

Eyebrows raising in interest, Selphy remarks "Oh, you mean that screaming from before? That wasn't me.", causing Bobby to give her an odd look. Pointing at the still-approaching Misdreavus, she adds "It was that annoying little pest. I'm already getting a headache from all of the noise it was making today."

"Well, screw you too!" barked the Ghost-Type irritably before giving Bobby a hungry look as it moves closer to him. "Now then, let's get another taste of that delicious fear of yours..."

Seeing this, Bobby stammers "S-stay back! Don't come any closer!" before backing away from the Screech Pokemon.

"Aw, come on...I'm not going to bite. Much. I just want some more of that delightful-tasting..."

Before the Misdreavus could finish speaking, Natu jumps into the air from Faith's shoulder and releasing a dark-colored pulse of energy that made the three humans in the cave shudder upon seeing it.

'Brr...there's something about that move that doesn't feel...right. Almost unnatural, even.' thought Bobby to himself as the energy collided with the Misdreavus, causing it to let out a pained screech. "What the heck was that?"

"Night Shade. Had to use it to buy you a bit of time in order to get your act together." answered the Natu, giving him an expectant look. "You know that Misdreavus isn't going to leave you alone as long as you remain afraid of it, right? They feed off of fear."

"They do? Well, what am I supposed to do then?"

"Stand up to it, of course. And considering that I'm your Pokemon, I'll be helping you out with that."

Eyebrow raised, Bobby asked "Stand up to it...you mean a battle?"

"No, you're supposed to walk up and tell it to go away." replied Natu sarcastically before giving the Hispanic teen a glare. "Of course I'm referring to a battle, numbskull! That's what you do when you encounter a wild Pokemon!"

"Well, how am I supposed to know that? I've only known about Pokemon for a few days! I'm not as acquainted with them as my sister and Clyde!" protested Bobby, causing the Tiny Bird Pokemon to look at him for a moment before nodding.

"Okay, I'll admit that I may have been a bit hard on you there. My bad." admitted the Psychic-Type before turning to face the Misdreavus, who was starting to recover from the Night Shade attack. "But it doesn't make my words any less true. If you want this Misdreavus to leave you alone, you're going to have to battle it."

"And you'll help me with that?"

"Of course. I'm your Pokemon after all. It's practically my job at this point."

After eyeing the Misdreavus for a moment, Bobby nods and say "Alright, then. Let's do this." before pointing at the Ghost-Type. "Uh...hey you! I'm challenging you to a battle!"

Giving the Natu a glance, he asks "...Did I do that right?"

"Passable at best."

"Aw, c'mon! Passable? Really?"

"A battle, huh? Well, if that's what you want, then that's what you're gonna get." said the Screech Pokemon, accepting the challenge. "And once I'm done with your little bird, you're coming with me, my delicious little snack."

"It's accepting your challenge. Also, it said that you looked delicious." stated Natu, causing Bobby to pale at the last part of the remark.

"...Please tell me that you can take that thing on. I don't want it to eat me."

"I've got two moves that are good against Ghost-Types - Faint Attack and Night Shade. Everything should go smoothly as long as you keep calm and stick to using them."

"Then let's go ahead and put them to work so I can get away from that thing! Use Night Shade again!"

"You're not going to hit me with that again, little bird." remarked Misdreavus before flying towards Natu as several waves of multicolored light started to emanate from the front-most pearl on its body. "Psywave!"

As the waves started to approach him, Natu fires off another Night Shade attack, sending another pulse of dark energy towards its target. Due to the type advantage that Night Shade's Ghost-Type properties had over Misdreavus' Psywave, the attack easily punches through and hits the Screech Pokemon, sending it screaming into a nearby wall.

Pleased, Bobby says "That's the way to do it! Now follow it up with Faint Attack!"

After taking a few seconds to pinpoint Misdreavus' location, Natu starts hopping towards it, cloaked in a dark aura. As the Ghost-Type prepared to dodge the oncoming attack, the Tiny Bird Pokemon feints and changes the direction of it's attack, managing to score another hit on its opponent.

Wincing from the damage it had taken, the Misdreavus grumbles "Ow! You stupid little...", only to be hit by yet another Night Shade before it could finish it's insult. "Stop that!"

"Make me."

"I think I will! Let's see you try to attack me without your Trainer around to give you any orders!"

With that said, the Misdreavus suddenly starts speeding towards Bobby, preparing to blast him with the strongest Psywave it could muster.

Eyes widening, Natu immediately uses Teleport in order to try and intercept the attack - even though it had known Bobby for a very short time, the Tiny Bird Pokemon didn't want that Misdreavus to harm him.

Upon seeing the Ghost-Type heading his way, Bobby lets out a startled yelp before unknowingly reaching into his pocket and taking out the empty Pokeball that Professor Ivy had given him earlier.

"Stay back! I'll use this if you come any closer!"

Hearing this, the Screech Pokemon started to open its mouth in order to call his bluff before noticing exactly what he was holding. After a moment, a sly smile forms on its face as it cancels its Psywave and starts floating closer to the terrified teen.

"Oh no, I hope you don't use that Pokeball on me. That would be terrible."

As soon as the Misdreavus started to float closer to him, Bobby shouts fearfully before hurling the ball at the Ghost-Type, causing it to bounce off of its head before pulling it inside in a burst of red light.

A few seconds later, the ball flashes and goes still.

While Bobby was taking several breaths to calm himself down from the terrifying ordeal he had just went through, Selphy walks over and picks up the Pokeball.

Looking it over, she muses "Hmm...a decent capture. Could've done without the screaming, but a good capture nonetheless. Well done." before placing the red and white ball in Bobby's hand, confusing him. "Here. I believe this is yours."

Eyebrow raised, the Michigan native muttered "Mine? What are you..." before realizing what he had just done. "...Oh no. I just captured it, didn't I?"

"You did." answered Natu, having just Teleported nearby. "Which means that you're stuck with it now. And I seriously doubt that it's going to stop scaring you just because you've become it's new Trainer."

At this, Bobby lets out a groan while Faith walks over and pats his shoulder reassuringly.

"Hey, think of it this way - now that you've captured that Misdreavus, you'll have plenty of time to get used to it trying to scare you so it won't effect you anymore."

Another groan was her answer, followed by a mutter of "...Let's just get back to the lab already..."

"Yeah, we should probably get going. The others are probably waiting for us there." said Faith, nodding. "Natu?"

"I know. Give me a moment to focus for this - I've never used Teleport with anyone aside from myself before." answered the Psychic-Type, eyes closed as it focused intently. Speaking telepathically to the two femals, it adds "I'd appreciate it if you two would recall your Pokemon, please. Not only would I like to have as little strain on my mind as possible, but I won't be able to Teleport your Persian due to its Dark typing."

Nodding in understanding, both Faith and Selphy recall their Pokemon, submerging the area in darkness.

"Can you hurry up, Natu? I'd rather be out of this place as soon as possible..." asked Bobby, trying to see through the inky darkness of the cavern.

"Just a moment. I just need to focus a bit more and...there. I think this should be enough power to get us out of here." stated Natu before quickly opening its now-glowing eyes, causing it and the three humans to quickly vanish in a flash of light.

-=O=-

-Five Island - Outside Professor Ivy's Laboratory (10:25 AM)-

While Natu teleported itself, Bobby, Selphy and Faith out of the Lost Cave, everyone else had regrouped back in front of Professor Ivy's lab to share what they had learned during their search.

"So? Did you four find out anything about Selphy's whereabouts?" asked Ivy, hoping to hear some good news.

"Nothing. Ronnie and I started searching the area we were in almost as soon as she had finished capturing her first Pokemon." stated Hope, shaking her head. "I should mention that she had successfully managed to defeat said Pokemon in a battle before catching it, as per your stipulations."

"Really now. I'm presuming that she captured the Murkrow that had stolen from her earlier?"

"Yes, Professor."

Nodding, Ivy remarks "Very well then." before giving Ronnie a glance. "Miss Santiago?"

"Yeah?" replied Ronnie, only for Ivy to smile before taking a laminated card out of her pocket and handing it over.

"As of right now, you are officially considered a League-Certified Pokemon Trainer. Congratulations."

"I...I am?" asked Ronnie, startled. "No more exams or anything like that?"

Shaking her head, Ivy replies "Not unless you do something to have that status revoked. However, if you really want to take the exam again...", causing the Hispanic girl to quickly shake her head.

"No, that won't be necessary! I've had enough studying and exams to last me a lifetime!"

"I'm just joking, Miss Santiago. Calm down." chuckled Ivy before turning to face Charity and Clyde. "I'm presuming that you two had the same luck with finding Selphy as well?"

"Pretty much. We couldn't find any sign of her anywhere." replied Clyde with a nod before taking out Slowpoke's Pokeball and showing it to her. "I did capture a Slowpoke while we were looking for her, though."

"I see...Charity, did he fulfill the necessary qualifications?"

After clearing her throat, Charity answers "While Clyde didn't technically 'defeat' the Slowpoke before catching it, he did engage it in battle. And taking into consideration that the Slowpoke was...well, not exactly responding to what was going on, I think it's safe to say that it would've lost against Clyde and his Phanpy. So yes, I believe he's fulfilled them well enough to justify a pass, Professor."

"Phanpy, huh? Remind me to scan it with my Pokedex later, McBride."

"Only if I can use mine to scan your Pokemon in return."

"Deal."

"I see. Well in that case, since Charity was willing to vouch for you, I believe I should give you a Trainer Card as well, Mr. McBride." stated Ivy before taking another Trainer Card - one that had Clyde's picture on it - and handing it over. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, Professor." said Clyde proudly before looking at his card. "Wow...I'm an actual Pokemon Trainer now..."

While Clyde examined his new card, Ronnie asks "So what about you, Professor Ivy? Did you find any trace of Selphy anywhere?"

"Not a one." replied Ivy, shaking her head. "I just hope that your brother and Faith are having..."

In a flash of light, Bobby, Selphy and Faith all appear in front of the now-startled group before crashing hard into the ground below.

As his Natu started to slowly glide down to the ground, Bobby mutters "Ow...couldn't you have at least insured that we'd land on our feet?"

"Hey, I told you that I haven't teleported anything aside from myself before." replied the Tiny Bird Pokemon simply. "I'll try to get it right next time, though."

Running over and helping his employer back to her feet, Sebastian says "There you are, Lady Selphy! You had me worried sick!" before helping her dust off. "Are you well? Where were you?"

"I'm fine aside from a mild headache, Sebastian." answered Selphy airily. "You don't need to constantly worry about me. I can handle myself just fine."

"Says the girl who can't even find her way through her own house without help." muttered Charity under her breath, causing her sisters to start snickering.

After spending a moment to glare at the three Virtue sisters for the insulting remark, Sebastian sighs before saying "Well...you're safe now and that's all that matters, my Lady. Now then, I believe that both of us should be heading back to the villa. It's been a very exhausting morning."

"Agreed. However, I would like to speak to Mr. Santiago before we depart."

"Of course, Lady."

After giving her butler a curt nod, Selphy walks over to Bobby and says "Even though you had taken longer than I would've liked to come and find me, I would like to thank you for coming to my aid. Granted, I'm fairly certain that with enough time, I would've managed to find my own way out of the Lost Cave..."

At this, the Virtues snickered, causing the blonde to glower at them before continuing.

"...But your help today was greatly appreciated. And the same goes for your Natu as well, despite the rough landing I had experienced earlier. I'll have to see about capturing one for myself so I'll be able to teleport directly back to my villa when I get lost instead of waiting for someone to find me."

Upon hearing this, Sebastian mutters 'Oh, thank Arceus..." under his breath, just low enough for it to go unheard.

"You're welcome, Selphy." replied Bobby, sheepishly grinning as he scratched the back of his head.

After giving the teen a small smile, Selphy's usual aloof expression returns as she starts heading back to her home...only to stop and turn back around.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot to mention something. Mr. Santiago?"

"Yes?"

"...If you ever happen to come back to Five Island, you're free to come and visit Resort Gorgeous anytime you like. I would certainly welcome the company, considering that hardly anything interesting happens there nowadays." stated Selphy with a nod before turning around to walk away again. "Come, Sebastian. We must be leaving."

"Right behind you, Lady Selphy." replied Sebastian, hurrying along to catch up with her. Quickly giving the others a thankful nod, he adds "Thank you for taking the time to help me find Lady Selphy, all of you. I really appreciate it."

"Anytime, Sebastian." said Ivy with a nod of her own. Once Selphy and Sebastian were no longer in sight, she turns to Bobby and asks "Now then, since we already know that you and Faith were successful when it comes to finding Miss Selphy, I'll just go ahead and get this out of the way - did you happen to capture anything while inside of the Lost Cave?"

"I caught something called a Misdreavus, Professor." answered Bobby, taking the Ghost-Type's Pokeball out of his pocket. "I have to confess that I didn't exactly 'beat' it in battle, though."

"I see. Well, did you at least put in the effort to try and win?" asked Ivy, causing Bobby to look at Natu for a moment before shaking his head.

"Again, I have to admit that's a 'no' as well, Professor. Natu's the one who put in all the work, not me. I just gave it a few orders and even then, it was the one who had to tell how to do things in the first place." confessed the teen with a sigh. "The only thing I managed to do was throw that ball thing you gave me at the Misdreavus, which ended up catching it by pure luck."

"I doubt it was luck, considering that it seemed to be egging you on to throw that Pokeball at it. I think it wanted you to catch it." remarked Natu, causing his Trainer to sigh again.

"That's even worse. I didn't even earn that capture since that Misdreavus chose to let itself get caught."

"I see..." mused Ivy, nodding as she mulled over what Bobby had to say in her mind. "Tell me something, Mr. Santiago...do you understand what this means?"

"It means I'll have to take the exam again, right?" asked Bobby in a resigned tone.

"Of course not." answered Ivy, causing the teen to give her a confused look. "Do you remember what I said when your sister asked if winning was the only way to pass the mock battles?"

"I remember. You said that while winning did lead to a qualification, there were other ways to pass the mock battles without needing to win them." said Bobby, nodding. "But what does this have to do with me?"

"Simple. As it turns out, you just happened to come across one of the other ways to pass when you brought up your battle with your Misdreavus." replied Ivy, smiling. "You were honest with yourself and with me about what happened."

Holding up two fingers, she adds "You didn't try to lie your way out of the situation and you were willing to admit that your skills needed improvement. Both of those are qualities of a good Trainer."

"But I'm not a good Trainer like my sister or Clyde, Professor. I suck at this Pokemon Training thing."

"Which can be remedied with enough time and experience, Mr. Santiago. Work hard and raise your Pokemon well and you'll overcome that particular problem." stated Ivy calmly before reaching into her pocket and drawing out a third Trainer Card. Handing it to him, she adds "In any case, I believe this is yours. Congratulations."

After eyeing the card for a moment while contemplating on whether he should give it back or not, Bobby sighs again before pocketing it. After recalling Natu back into its Pokeball, he says "Thanks, Professor."

"You're welcome, Mr. Santiago." said Ivy before clearing her throat. "...Now then, since you three are now officially registered as Pokemon Trainers, I should go over what this means for you."

"If this is about the 'legally being an adult' thing, we're already aware of it. We went over that during Lisa's VideoPhone call, remember?" answered Ronnie, arms crossed.

"I know. However, what she had forgotten to mention was the fact that your new status will require you to pay a small amount - around 10 percent - of your current funds every month. This is a requirement for everyone that becomes an official Trainer."

"So we have to pay this tax on top of our other expenses, huh..." mused Bobby with a frown.

"Yes, but you can easily earn money through battling and selling items you don't need to a local PokeMart. If you manage to do both of those well enough and keep your losses to a minimum, you should have more than enough money to see you through your journey." answered Ivy, nodding. "Speaking of money, I've taken the liberty of starting up bank accounts for the three of you as well. It's one of the requirements I have to fulfill when it comes to being your sponsor."

"Any money you earn through battling will go into that account, which can be accessed through your Trainer Card." stated Charity, pointing at Clyde's Trainer Card. "Alongside being the only way you can access your money, your Trainer Cards also count as your identification, so try not to lose your them."

"We did put a little bit of cash in your accounts to help you get started - around three-thousand Pokedollars for each of you." said Faith, causing smiles to form on the three Michigan natives' faces. "Three-thousand's not really all that much, guys. That's roughly equivalent to thirty of your American Dollars."

"Which is better than starting off with nothing at all." stated Clyde before taking several bills out of his pocket. "Still, it couldn't hurt to have a bit more. Any chance you can convert this for me? It's my personal savings - around fifty or so dollars."

"Can you do the same for me and Nie Nie? We brought some money with us, too." asked Bobby as he and Ronnie took out several bills as well.

"I'll have it converted for you sometime today." answered Ivy, nodding as Faith took the money and brought it into the lab. "Now then, I believe that since all three of you are now officially registered as Trainers, your time here with us at the Lab is officially over."

Eyebrow raised, Ronnie asks "That's it? We're done, then?"

"That's it. Where you three go from here is up to you - if you wish to stay here on Five Island a bit longer, that's your choice. If you wish to explore the rest of the Sevii Islands, you're more than welcome to do so. If you want to make your way to Cinnabar Island..."

"We're free to go there whenever we like?" suggested Bobby, causing the plum-haired woman to chuckle.

"While that may also be true, I was going to say that if you're going to be heading to Cinnabar Island, you'll want to head to the docks located to the west. The SeaGallop Ferry there will bring you - completely free of charge - to Cinnabar Island. Just make sure to ask him for a lift to Vermilion Port after you finish your business there. We wouldn't want you to be stuck on Cinnabar Island right at the start of your journey together, now would we?"

Nodding, Ronnie says "We'll look into that, Professor. Thanks."

"Anytime. And do remember that even though I'm moving to Valencia Island, I'm always open to any questions you may have to ask me." said Ivy, giving the three Americans a warm smile before turning around and walking away.

After watching the plum-haired Professor go into her laboratory, a smile forms on Ronnie's face as she says "...Well, we finally managed to do it. We're Pokemon Trainers now."

"Easy for you to say, Nie Nie. I still think that I haven't earned the right to be called one yet." replied Bobby, frowning at his Trainer Card.

"Professor Ivy seems to disagree with you, Bobby." commented Clyde, arms crossed. "And if she thinks you're qualified enough to be holding that card in your hand, then I have to agree with her."

"Yeah, but..." started Bobby, only for his sister to groan in exasperation.

"If it's really bothering you that much, we'll do what we can to help you get better at being a Trainer so you can stop yapping on about not being good enough. Happy?"

"...Yeah. Thanks, Nie Nie."

"You're welcome. Now then...Professor Ivy said that we needed to go -, right?" asked Ronnie, causing the two boys to nod. "Alright then. In that case, we better get going. I'd like to reach Cinnabar Island before..."

Before the Hispanic girl could finish speaking, a loud cry booms throughout out the area, startling all three Americans and causing Professor Ivy, along with her assistants, to come running out of the lab.

-=O=-

"W-what the heck was that?! I've never heard of a Pokemon that sounded like that before..." whimpered Faith as she and her sisters started to look around for any signs of the cry's owner.

"I don't know, but if I had to take a guess, it's probably still nearby." said Ivy, eyes scanning the skies. "Keep a sharp eye out and be ready for anything, you three. I'm going to see if the others are okay."

"Yes, Professor!" chimed all three sisters before continuing their search.

Walking over to the three Michigan natives, Ivy starts to open her mouth to speak, only for another cry - one that was much louder and closer-sounding - to ring out, causing everyone to turn their attention to the skies above.

Upon seeing what the cause of the noise was, Ivy's eyes widened in shock as she whispered "...By Arceus..." in a low, trembling tone while her assistants stood frozen in place, jaws dropped in disbelief.

Hovering in place in front of Ronnie, Bobby and Clyde was a massive white-colored Pokemon with blue ridges going down its back, a light blue-colored stomach, large hand-like feathers at the ends of its white wings, blue diamond-shaped marks around its eyes and a long tail that had two blue triangular ridges at the very end.

After hovering in place for a few more seconds, the Pokemon lands on the ground in front of the three Americans, causing the Virtue sisters to let out cries of alarm while Ivy starts reaching for a Pokeball in her coat pocket, ready to try and drive the Pokemon off.

Before anything could happen however, a gentle-sounding voice suddenly speaks, saying "Calm yourselves. I do not intend to harm anyone here."

"You...you can speak?" asked Ivy cautiously, immediately recognizing that the unknown Pokemon was the one who had spoken.

"Through telekinesis, yes. Please relax - you have nothing to fear from me." replied the Pokemon, nodding its head. "I just wanted to get a closer look at the ones who had caught my interest, nothing more."

Turning its attention back to the three Americans, the massive beast comments "...Hmm...yes. There is a lot of potential between the three of you, though I will admit that the older one is slightly less promising than the other two.", causing Bobby to falter slightly. "Do not mistake my words as an insult towards you. Even if you have less promise than your sister and her friend, it doesn't change the fact that you do have the potential to become great. Work hard and care for your Pokemon well...and you will achieve that greatness."

"...Thanks, I guess?" replied Bobby, slightly mollified.

"You are welcome. Now then, as for you two..." started the white-colored Pokemon before giving Ronnie and Clyde a wry smile. "Much like Ho-Oh's 'Chosen', you two have the potential to become phenomenal Trainers in your own right. Enough to play a role in helping your friend with changing the world of Pokemon for the better, I think."

"You really think so?" asked Clyde, stunned. "But we're just a couple of beginners!"

As she pointed at the Pokemon, Ronnie questioned "And what do you mean by helping our friend? Are you talking about Lincoln?"

"To answer your questions in order...yes, while it's true that both of you are just starting your journey together as Trainers, you still have the potential needed to become great. All you need to do is work hard enough to draw it out." answered the Pokemon with a nod. "And yes, I am referring to your friend - the one you call Lincoln. By accepting the gifts that Ho-Oh had given him at the start of his own journey, your friend has essentially become Ho-Oh's 'Chosen'."

After flapping its massive wings, the Pokemon then adds "And considering the great deal of potential I see within you two, I would like to make the same offer - will you accept the gift I have to offer and become my 'Chosen'?"

Stunned, Clyde asks "You...you want to do something like that for us?"

"I do. Will you accept my offer?"

After she and Clyde look at each other for a moment, Ronnie answers "...Yeah, we'll accept. If Lincoln's going to be playing a role in changing the Pokemon world for the better, then we want to be there, right beside him."

"What she said. If Ronnie's going to be doing this, then so am I."

Nodding his head as well, Bobby comments "I may not be good enough to be whatever this 'Chosen' thing is, but you better believe that I'm gonna be with Nie Nie and Clyde every step of the way. That's a promise."

Sounding pleased, the Pokemon replies "Such loyalty to each other...very well then. In that case, allow me to bestow my gifts upon you." before reaching under its wing and taking what appeared to be two shimmering silver feathers from underneath it. Placing them on the ground, it adds "The items before you are Silver Wings. Much like Ho-Oh's Rainbow Wing, they will bestow a blessing upon you that will help you on your way with becoming closer with your Pokemon. Treasure them, my Chosen, for they are the symbol of the newly-created bond between you and I."

After reaching under his wing again, the Pokemon takes a strange-looking blue-colored bell with a white wave-like design out and carefully places it in front of Bobby, who eyes it curiously.

"And to you, I give this - the Tidal Bell. May it serve as a reminder to you of the words I have spoken to you before."

Picking the bell up, Bobby nods and says "We'll take good care of the items you've given us. Thank you." while Ronnie and Clyde start examining the two Silver Wings.

"You are welcome." stated the Pokemon before flapping its wings in order to take off. "Now then, I must make my departure. May the winds of fortune blow in your favor, young ones. Farewell."

With that said, the Pokemon immediately takes off into the air and flies away, leaving the three Michigan natives, along with the still shocked residents of Professor Ivy's lab, behind.

"...Wow. Just wow." muttered Bobby, watching as the Pokemon disappeared into the horizon. "...What was that thing?"

"I dunno. Let me..." started Ronnie before her eyes widened in realization. "...Dang it! I forgot to scan that thing with my Pokedex!"

"If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't able to, either." said Clyde, shrugging. "I was honestly more fixated on this 'Chosen' thing. What does that mean for us?"

"Beats me. I can definitely say that if it's something Lincoln's doing, then we're going to be doing it as well." answered Ronnie firmly. "Still...enough potential to change the world of Pokemon...is it possible to become that strong?"

"I guess we'll find out one of these days if that's the case or not, Nie Nie." remarked Bobby as Professor Ivy, having finally snapped out of her stunned state, runs over.

"You...you three..." sputtered the plum-haired woman, trying to find the right words to use. "Do you three realize who you had just spoken to?"

After giving each other a look, all three Americans reply "...No?" in unison.

Walking over, Faith comments "That was...that was a Lugia, you three. A Legendary Pokemon..." before her eyes turned to the Silver Wings that Ronnie and Clyde were holding. "...I don't believe it...it actually gave you two Silver Wings..."

"Yeah? And?" asked Ronnie, eyebrow raised. "Sure, they're supposed to be blessed or something, but they're not that big of a deal, right?"

"Miss Santiago, you two are quite possibly the only ones in the entire world who are in possession of something this valuable. There have been no other cases of Silver Wings existing anywhere else in the world." answered Ivy, shaking her head. "And considering the fact that Lugia itself had given those two Wings to you...that makes them even more special."

Turning to face Bobby, she adds "As for the bell you hold...I believe that there is only one like it in the world, Mr. Santiago. Much like the Silver Wings that your sister and Mr. McBride are currently holding, your Tidal Bell is exceedingly rare."

Now looking at his Wing with an expression of awe, Clyde mutters "Wow...to think we're the only ones with something like this..."

"First you get a Pokedex and now this happens...you two are seriously lucky, you know that?" stated Charity, eyeing the two Wings with a slightly jealous look.

Sighing, Faith remarks "Tell me about it. If we had that kind of luck on our side, maybe our appliances wouldn't blow up as often when we try to use them." before stuffing her hands into her pockets. "Oh well. That's life, I guess."

As a smile forms on her face, she adds "At least I still have that Dunsparce that we caught a few days ago to look forward to. I can't wait to..."

Scratching the back of her head, Hope mutters "Yeah...about that..."

"...No. Don't tell me that..."

"Yep. Ronnie has it."

After staring at the Hispanic girl in horror, Faith runs over and grabs her shoulders before saying "You...you're willing to make a trade for that Dunsparce of yours, right? What do you want for it?" in an almost pleading tone.

"No trade. I'm keeping the little guy with me." answered Ronnie firmly, causing Faith to whine slightly before trying again.

"C'mon! I'll even be willing to let you pick from the ones that we couldn't let you three have if that's what you want! Just let me have that Dunsparce, pleaaaaase!"

"I said no!"

Sighing, Ivy gives the other two Virtue sisters a look before pointing at Faith, causing them to nod before walking over and grabbing her arms in order to drag her back to the lab.

"No! My Dunsparce!" cried out Faith as Hope and Charity dragged her through the front door, making sure to close it behind them.

As the sound of Faith's wailing (along with a few expletives thrown in) continued to fill the air, Ivy smiles awkwardly before saying "Well...that was certainly interesting, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah...yeah it was." replied Bobby, nodding. "...Professor?"

"Yes?"

"...Thanks for everything you've done for us. We really appreciate it."

Smiling warmly, Ivy answers "It was my pleasure, Mr. Santiago. Hopefully, we'll be able to meet up again in the future."

"I hope so, too." replied Ronnie, smiling as well. "...Valencia Island, right?"

"In the Orange Archipelago, yes."

"We'll make sure to stop by and visit you there someday. That's a promise."

Smile widening, Ivy answers "I'll be looking forward to that day, Miss Santiago." before pointing to the direction of the ferry's dock. "Now then, you three need to get going to the dock. I doubt that Hope and Charity will be able to restrain Faith for much longer."

"We'll get right on that. Goodbye, Professor."

"Goodbye. Make sure to be careful out there." said Ivy, causing the three to nod before running off towards their destination. Once they were completely out of sight, she sighs before heading back to the lab. "Guess I better give Samuel a call and let him know that those three are on their way..."

"LET GO OF ME, DAMN IT! I WANT THAT DUNSPARCE!"

-=O=-

-Somewhere On The Kantonian Seas (11:35 PM)-

(Roughly One Hour After Leaving Ivy's Laboratory)

As he piloted the SeaGallop ferry that was bringing Ronnie, Clyde and Bobby to Cinnabar Island, the sailor at the ship's wheel remarked "Only an hour or two until we're at Cinnabar Island, kids." before giving the three Americans a grin. "So what's your business in there anyway? You heading there to see the sights?"

"Something like that." replied Ronnie, glimpsing at a school of blue jellyfish-like Pokemon as they swam by. "Anything of interest over there aside from the tourism?"

"Well, there's plenty of beaches, if that catches your fancy. Big volcano over there, too."

"Volcano?" asked Bobby, concerned. "It's not active, is it?"

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Volcano hasn't erupted in years and I doubt it's going to be blowing any time soon." assured the man, giving the teen a look. "There's also some laboratory on the island that's looking into Pokemon Fossils, too."

"Pokemon Fossils, huh? I might want to check that out while we're on Cinnabar Island..." mused Clyde to himself thoughtfully before noticing a large island in the distance with a volcano towering over it. "Is that it?"

"Yep. We won't be arriving for another hour or so, so you three just sit back, relax and take in the sights of what the ocean has to offer you."

"Is it alright if we let our Pokemon out to get some fresh air, too?" asked Ronnie, causing the man to think the request over for a bit.

"Do you have anything too big for the ferry to handle?"

In response, all three send out their Pokemon, causing the sailor to look at them for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, just make sure they don't make a mess."

"We'll keep things clean, sir." replied Clyde before turning to face his Phanpy and Slowpoke. "So...uh, we never really got off to introducing ourselves earlier. I'm Clyde, your Trainer. It's nice to meet you."

While Slowpoke just stared vacantly at his new Trainer, Phanpy walked over and took one of Clyde's hands into her trunk before shaking it firmly.

"Nice to meet you too, Clyde - I'm Phanpy! I hope we can become good friends with each other!" replied the little Ground-Type in turn in a cheerful-sounding tone. Turning to face the Slowpoke beside her, she asks "...Aren't you going to say hello? Or introduce yourself at least?"

After a few moments of awkward silence, the Dopey Pokemon finally blinks before moving around for the first time that day. After looking around for a moment, he turns back to Clyde and says "...Oh, hello. You wanted to battle me, right...?"

"...By Arceus, you are slow. The battle's been over for hours now."

Instead of replying, the vacant look returned back to the Dopey Pokemon's face, causing Phanpy and Clyde to look at each other before sighing.

"I think I'm going to have my hands full with training this one properly..."

-=O=-

While Clyde was having some moderate luck in getting along with his new Pokemon, Ronnie...wasn't doing as well when it came to her recently captured Murkrow, who was once again trying to snatch the charm that he had attempted to steal from her earlier.

"Gimme that! It's mine!" cawed the Darkness Pokemon irritably as he snapped his beak at the glittering charm in an attempt to snag it while Ronnie held it out of his reach.

"Knock it off, you stupid bird! I'm not letting you steal from me again!"

"Yes, you are! Now give it here!"

"You do realize that even if you do manage to get that thing from her, you won't be able to fly away with it, right? She can just recall you back and take it from you again." stated Dunsparce as he watched the scene unfold, causing the Dark-Type to glower at him for a moment before attempting to steal Ronnie's charm again.

"Stop it! This was given to me by my abuela! I can't just let you take this from me!" snapped Ronnie irritably before shoving the avian away, causing him to glare at her for a moment before flying over to try his luck at stealing the charm again.

"I don't care who gave that shiny little prize to you! I want it! Give it to me!"

Seeing this, Ronnie quickly starts fishing through her bag in order to find Murkrow's Pokeball, hoping that she'd be able to recall it back inside before he could make another attempt at swiping the charm from her. As she she starts looking through her bag, she unintentionally takes the Silver Wing that Lugia had given her out of it, causing the Darkness Pokemon to stop in his tracks upon seeing it.

"...Oh. Now that's shiny..." muttered the Dark-Type, eyes glinting upon seeing the Silver Wing. "I want it."

With that said, Murkrow abandons all thoughts of stealing the charm and starts trying to steal the shimmering feather instead, once again starting a struggle between him and his Trainer.

"Damn it, you're not taking this from me either, you little pest! It's bad enough that you're trying to steal my grandma's charm, but there's no way I'm letting you take this away from me!"

"Quit being so stubborn and just give that to me! I'm letting you keep your stupid shiny thing, so at least let me have this!" retorted the Murkrow angrily as he tried to take the Wing again, only to stop upon seeing Ronnie looking him with a stunned expression on her face. "...What?"

"I just heard you speaking to me."

"So? It's not like you're able to understand me anyway, you stupid human. Now gimme that!"

Quickly grabbing Murkrow's beak and holding it shut, Ronnie glares at him before saying "You've got some nerve calling me 'stupid', you little annoyance.", causing both Dunsparce and Murkrow to look at her, surprised.

"You...you actually did hear me..."

"Yeah. And I don't like being called stupid." growled the Hispanic girl before turning her attention to the Silver Wing in her hand. After looking at it for a moment, she slips it into one of her pockets before letting go of the Darkness Pokemon, causing him to quickly put distance between himself and Ronnie before cawing something angrily at her.

Based on the angry gestures that the Dark-Type was making with his wings, there were probably several expletives thrown into his tirade.

Instead of acknowledging the furious avian's rant however, Ronnie stood there, thinking 'Huh...I can't understand what he's saying anymore. I wonder why?' before placing her hands into her pockets, unintentionally causing one of them to brush against the Silver Wing inside.

"...All I wanted was for one thing to go right for me and this shit happens! I try to get one little prize for myself and you fucking ruin it for me, you hoodie-wearing pain in the ass! You could've done without that shiny thing! You had dozens of them on you, for crying out loud!"

Eyes widening in realization as she felt the smooth surface of the Silver Wing against her hand, the Hispanic girl thought 'Ah...I get it now. The Silver Wing is what's allowing me to understand what my Murkrow's saying. I guess this must be the 'blessing' that Lugia thing was talking about when it gave them to me and Clyde."

Flying over to her, the Murkrow says "Look here, human..."

"Ronnie. I have a name."

"...Ronnie, then. My day has been nothing but complete Tauros-shit and you're not making it any better by keeping your shiny little prizes away from me. Why do you want to keep the one you're keeping from me so badly? I noticed that you had plenty of them with you when I took that one from you earlier."

"I didn't take my charm back because I wanted it. I took it back because you stole it from me." replied Ronnie, keeping one hand on the Silver Wing while planting the other on her hip. "If it wasn't for that, I would've let you keep it. My grandmother gave me tons of them and they're all pretty cheap-o anyway, so having one go missing wouldn't be too much of an issue."

Eyes narrowing, Murkrow asked "Then why aren't you giving it to me? From what I'm understanding, you clearly don't want it."

"Like I said before - it's because you're trying to steal it from me. And I don't like being stolen from." answered Ronnie, frowning. "Now then...we both know that aside from the stealing thing, I wouldn't have any problems with letting you have my grandma's charm, right?"

A cautious nod was her answer, prompting her to continue.

"And we both know that I managed to capture you earlier, which means that I'll be expecting you to cooperate with me, right?"

"Forget that. I don't see anything in it for me."

In response, Ronnie simply smirks before holding up the charm, causing the Dark-Type's eyes to gleam greedily upon seeing it.

"See this?"

As the gleam in his eyes became more pronounced, the Darkness Pokemon answers "Oh, I see it. And I want it."

Smirk widening, Ronnie says "Then let's make a trade - your cooperation in exchange for this. What do you say?", causing Murkrow to stop eyeing the charm long enough to look at her.

"...I don't know...you're asking for a lot here for one shiny little..." mused the dark-colored avian in an unsure tone, causing Ronnie to hold up the charm to the sunlight, causing it to shine brightly. Eyes glinting again at the sight, he adds "Deal! You're the boss, kid - just give me that prize!" before offering his wing for a shake.

As she accepted the gesture, Ronnie thought 'Heh...guess those charms that Grandma Rose gave me came in handy after all.' to herself before tossing over the charm, causing the Dark-Type to let out a crow of delight before snapping it up into his beak.

Giving her two Pokemon a look, she adds "Now then, since we've got that little dispute out of the way..." before a small grin forms on her face. "The name's Ronnie Anne Santiago. Nice to meetcha."

Beak tightly clutched around his new trinket, the Dark-Type simply mumbled "Name's Murkrow, boss. I'll be heading up - if you need something from me, just gimme a shout." before taking off into the air.

"Well, that's one way to get him to cooperate." remarked Dunsparce, watching as the dark-colored avian flew high above the ferry. Turning to give Ronnie a wave with his tail, he adds "I'm Dunsparce. I'm glad we could get to introduce ourselves properly without being rushed into a battle."

"Same here, Dunsparce. Same here." answered Ronnie, nodding. "So...do you wanna sit on my lap while we wait for the ferry to arrive at Cinnabar Island?"

"Yes, please!"

-=O=-

"Aw, c'mon...I won't bite. I promise..." cooed Misdreavus in an attempt to draw Bobby, who was now peering at it from behind a nearby box, closer. Upon seeing that he wasn't moving, the Screech Pokemon frowns before adding "...Seriously, I'm not going to hurt you, okay? If I wanted to, you'd already be a ghost yourself by now."

"It's because he's afraid of you." commented Natu, causing the Ghost-Type to look at it...

"Him. I'm a Male, thank you. The Misdreavus is female, by the way."

...To look at him with a questioning look.

"Well, I'm a Ghost-Type. For me, scaring the daylights out of someone should be a good thing, right?" asked Misdreavus before turning to face Bobby again while licking her lips. "Especially with that delicious fear of his. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it."

"Not if you actually want to get close to him. You keep terrifying him like that and he might even up taking drastic measures to ensure you can't do it to him again." answered the Tiny Bird Pokemon, giving his Trainer an aside glance. "He might decide to never let you out of your Pokeball again or possibly even get rid of you so you won't be able to bother him anymore."

Eyes narrowing, he adds "Or even worse, you might end up scaring him to the point where he won't be able to feed you with fear anymore. Because he'll be dead from a heart attack by then. Do you really want that on your conscience?"

"Well...no, but what do you want me to do? I can't just stop scaring him, you know." asked Misdreavus, frowning. "In case you've forgotten, my kind needs to feed on fear to survive."

Giving the teen another look, she includes "And that fear of his tastes so good...I don't know if I can settle for anything else."

"You could try...oh, I don't know...talking to him and seeing if you can arrange something. That might help." suggested Natu, flapping his small wings slightly.

"And how am I supposed to talk to him when he can't even understand my language?"

"That's where I come in. Psychic-Type, remember?"

Eyeing the small green Pokemon warily, Misdreavus asks "Right...and you're sure that this will work?"

"There's only one way for you to find out and it's not by floating there and doing nothing." answered Natu simply. "I'll serve as a translator, if that helps."

Looking uneasy about the idea, the Ghost-Type mutters "...Well, alright. Just don't try anything funny with passing along what I'm saying to him." before floating closer to Bobby, who quickly ducked down behind the box. "Hey, come out here for a bit. We need to talk."

"...She already knows that you're there, you know. There's no point in hiding there any longer." commented Natu with a roll of his eyes, causing the teen to wince before slowly stepping out from behind the box. "She just wants to talk. I suggest that you listen to what she has to say."

"And how do I know that she's not going to try and scare the crap out of me again?" asked Bobby, eyeing the Screech Pokemon warily.

"Because I'm here. If she tries anything, I'll deal with her personally."

"I'd like to see you try." stated Misdreavus, glaring at the Psychic-Type.

"We're trying to assure him that you mean no harm, not make him even warier of you, remember?" countered Natu, causing the other green-colored Pokemon to roll her eyes in response. Turning back to Bobby, he adds "Do not worry. I will make sure that no harm comes to you."

"...Well, alright. I'll be counting on you if something does happen. So what do you want?"

"Simple. I'd like to work out something between us so that we both get what we want - I get to snack on that fear of yours and you get the willing cooperation of a Pokemon like me." answered Misdreavus before looking to Natu, as if asking him to translate what she had just said.

"She wants to make a deal. She's willing to cooperate with you if she can give you a scare every now and then to feed off of your fear energy." stated Natu, giving Bobby a glance. "And before you say anything, her species need to consume that particular kind of energy to survive."

"While I can understand her needing to do it in order to keep living, just exactly what qualifies as 'every now and then'? Because I don't want her to be scaring the living daylights out of me during every waking moment of my time here in Kanto." asked Bobby nervously.

After thinking her answer over for a moment, Misdreavus answers "Tell him that twice a day should be enough and that unless I expend more energy than I need to, I should be fine after that."

"Twice every day unless she uses up enough of her energy to require another go." stated Natu, causing Bobby to sigh in relief.

"Oh...good. I was expecting her to ask for more than that. What about this cooperation thing?"

Giving the Ghost-Type a look, Natu says "I'll take this one." before turning back to answer his Trainer. "In short, you will be able to give her commands during a battle as well as outside of one. As long as you let her feed twice a day, whatever you say, goes."

As if agreeing with the Tiny Bird Pokemon, Misdreavus nodded her head.

After taking a moment to think over the deal he had been offered, Bobby mutters "...Well...having another Pokemon aside from Natu would be nice, but I'm not exactly keen on the idea of getting spooked again..."

"I suggest taking the deal. At least through it, you'll only have to go through being frightened twice a day instead of going through it constantly whenever she feels like snacking away on your fear." recommended Natu, causing the teen to pale at the implications before nodding his head.

"Alright, it's a deal. Just...try not to overdo it, will you?"

"Like I said before, I don't want to hurt you. All I want..." started Misdreavus before floating slowly towards Bobby, eyes half-lidded with a sultry look on her face. "...is to get another taste of your wonderfully delicious..."

In an instant, she pops directly in front of the teen's face and shouts "FEAR!" loudly, causing him to let out a startled yelp before falling backfirst onto the deck. Feeling the familiar flow of his fear energy flowing into her pearls, the Ghost-Type sighs happily before saying "Ah...there we go. That should tide me over for a little while."

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it? Just deal with that twice a day and you'll be fine." said Natu, causing Bobby to give him a shaky nod in response.

"Y-yeah...not that bad..."

"Great. I'll be back for another go at it later on this evening." answered Misdreavus with a smirk. "So now that we've gotten that over with and done, why don't you introduce yourself? I'd like to know my little snack's name so I can address him properly."

Giving Bobby a look, Natu states. "She wants your name."

"Uh...Bobby. Bobby Santiago." replied the teen, pulling himself back to his feet. Pointing at Ronnie, who was talking with Dunsparce while the Normal-Type sat in her lap, he adds "See that girl over there? I'm her older brother."

"I can see the resemblance." commented Natu, nodding. "And the other one?"

"That's Clyde. He's the best friend of..." started Bobby before leaning in to whisper something. "He's the best friend of the boy that Ronnie likes."

"Ooh...so the female human has someone that she would like to mate with. Interesting." commented Misdreavus, eyeing Ronnie with a salacious grin.

"...What did she just say?"

"You don't want me to translate that." stated Natu, shaking his head. "In any case, you already know who we are and what you need to know about us, considering we all met in the same place. I think that's more than adequate enough for an introduction."

"If you say so." replied Bobby with a shrug as he sat down on of the SeaGallop's seats while Misdreavus and Natu started to meander elsewhere on the ship. After making himself comfortable, he reaches into his bag and takes out the Tidal Bell before looking it over, puzzled on why Lugia had given it to him.

Sure, the massive Legendary told him that it was meant to inspire him to improve as a Trainer, but the teen had a feeling that there was something more to the bell than the Diving Pokemon had let on. Almost as if Lugia had something else in mind when it had bestowed it onto him.

"What's that?" asked Misdreavus, eyeing the bell curiously as she floated over to look at it.

"It's a bell, obviously." stated Natu before taking a closer look at the bell. "A really strange-looking one, now that I'm getting a good look at it. Where did you get this?"

"From some Pokemon named Lugia. It gave me this before flying off."

At this, both Natu and Misdreavus stare at their Trainer in disbelief before immediately demanding answers on what had happened during his meeting with the fabled Legendary.

Sweatdropping as the two Pokemon continued to batter him with questions, Bobby thought '...Okay, maybe I shouldn't have said something like that...'

-=O=-

-Professor Oak's Laboratory - VideoPhone Room (12:00 PM)-

Meanwhile, Professor Ivy was in her lab's VideoPhone room, talking to Professor Oak while going over everything that had happened during Ronnie, Clyde and Bobby's short stay at her lab.

"And that's everything in a nutshell, Samuel. I know that what I've told you may be hard to believe, but..."

"Considering that Mr. Loud had managed to run into Ho-Oh during his first day of his own journey, I'd be willing to believe that a Legendary Pokemon - the one considered to be the opposite of Ho-Oh, as a matter of fact - did made an appearance at your lab, Philena."

"When in the world did..." started the plum-haired woman before quickly shaking her head. "Actually...no, never mind. I don't want to know. I think having Lugia show up at the lab is more than enough of a shock for me today."

"Suit yourself." replied Oak, smiling widely. "Still...it's astounding, isn't it? Four Trainers from Mr. Loud's hometown - Mr. Loud himself included - not only managed to pass the Trainer's Exam without completing a term of Trainer's School, but they've met Legendary Pokemon on the first days of their journeys as well. Perhaps I should start looking into sponsoring potential Trainers from there from now on."

"Make sure to leave some of those prospects for the rest of us, Samuel." joked Ivy with a smile as well.

"No promises." jested Oak in return, causing the two professors to start laughing seconds later. After calming down, he asks "So...how did they do score-wise?"

"Almost similar to how Mr. Loud did on the exam you gave him. Barely managed a passing score." replied Ivy, crossing her arms. "However, I've got the feeling that those three will make quite the name for themselves during their travels."

"I felt the same exact way about Mr. Loud after he passed his own exam, Philena." replied Oak, smiling. "So have they told you about what they want to do with their careers now that they're official Pokemon Trainers?"

"Well, Miss Santiago wants to challenge for badges and Mr. McBride seems to show an interest in Pokemon Contests." said Ivy, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "As for Bobby, he's just content with watching over them for now, but something may come up during their travels together."

"I see. And have they already left for Cinnabar Island, Philena?"

"They left earlier this afternoon, Samuel. If I had to take a guess, they're probably on their way there right now." answered Ivy before a frown formed on her face. "Tell me, Samuel...is the Cinnabar Island gym still active?"

"I believe so. One moment." replied Oak before turning his chair to face a nearby computer. After typing away at it for a few moments, he turns back to Ivy and says "It would seem so. The Volcano Badge is still displayed on the active badge listing, so the gym must still be active somehow."

"I wonder why. Shouldn't the gym be inactive due to the lack of challengers that its been going through?"

"I'm not sure, myself. I'll have to bring that up at the next League meeting." replied Oak, shrugging. "In any case, I'm certain that old Blaine will be happy to finally have a challenger again after so long. I'll be sure to ring him up and let him know that Miss Santiago and her entourage are coming his way."

"Please do. It wouldn't do to have Miss Santiago and her companions leave Cinnabar empty-handed."

"Of course. Goodbye, Philena." said Oak, causing Ivy to give him a nod before ending the call. After spending a few moments dialing in another number, the gray-haired professor makes another call, causing a man with long auburn hair, a long white mustache and a pair of sunglasses to answer him.

"Yeah, this is the..." started the man in a dry, bored tone before taking notice on who was calling him. "...Samuel? Is that you?"

Nodding with a smile on his face, Oak answers "It's me, Blaine. How's the inn?"

"Okay, I suppose. I'd rather be doing my actual job instead of tending to this place, though." replied Blaine with a sigh, disappointment evident in his voice. "By Arceus, I miss my gym."

"Well, you're in luck. I've got some good news for you." said Oak, smiling. "There's a challenger coming your way - one who wants to challenge you for a Volcano Badge."

After looking at Oak with a look of bewilderment mixed with disbelief for a moment or two, the other man scowls before answering "Very funny, Samuel. If this is supposed to be some kind of joke, I'm..."

"Blaine, I'm being completely honest with you here - there actually is a challenger coming your way." stated Oak, cutting the other man off. "You know who Lincoln Loud is, correct?"

"Hard to forget someone like that, considering the fact that the kid's been making a name for himself with the way he's been tearing his way through the gyms here. I'm actually hoping that he stops by Cinnabar Island so I can see how good he is for myself." replied Blaine, eyes blazing behind his sunglasses. After a moment, he adds "...He is the one I'm going to be facing, right?"

"Not exactly. You may get a chance to battle against him at a later date, but the challenger I'm referring to is someone else." answered Oak, shaking his head.

Looking disappointed, Blaine mutters "Damn. Well, who's this challenger, then? Is it that grandson of yours?"

"Not exactly. But..."

"But...?"

As a smile started to form on his face, Oak answers "...I will say that she's from the same hometown as Mr. Loud. Even managed to repeat his feat of completing the Trainer's Exam without prior schooling, too."

Now looking intrigued, Blaine asks "Is that right? Well, how many badges does this kid have? Because I'm itching for a good battle and all this talk's starting to get me fired up for one. No pun intended, of course."

"Considering that she just passed the exam today, I'd say none. You're the first gym leader that she intends to challenge." replied Oak, causing the other man's smile to falter a bit.

"So it's gonna be a one-badge battle, huh? Well, I was hoping for at least a three or four-badge match, but I'll take what I can get." said Blaine before nodding his head. "Maybe having this kid face off against me will spark interest in the Cinnabar gym and I'll start getting regular challengers again. Arceus knows I could use them with the way things have been around here as of late. So is that everything you wanted to tell me?"

"Well, now that you mention it...how is the project at Cinnabar's laboratory coming along? I understand that they're planning on reviving prehistoric Pokemon through fossils, correct?"

Nodding, Blaine answers "Mm-hmm. The guys working there are still trying to work out the kinks on that, but they're making progress on the project. We should see some results within the next year or so." before scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, they've been going on about some dig at Grampa Canyon over the past couple of days, too."

"Well, that place is one of the oldest locations in the Kanto region. It would make sense to try digging there for fossils to use in their studies." replied Oak, nodding with a thoughtful look on his face. "In any case, I must be going - the paperwork waiting for me in my study isn't going to handle itself...unfortunately."

Chuckling, Blaine answers "And that's why I chose to be a Gym Leader instead of becoming a professor like yourself, Samuel. I don't have to worry about that kind of stuff bogging me down."

"Almost makes me wish I had chosen the same path as well, old friend." joked Oak in return. "I have to go. Goodbye and good luck with your upcoming match, Blaine."

"Goodbye, Samuel."

-=O=-

-Somewhere Between Four & Five Island (12:45 PM)-

While Professor Oak and Blaine were ending their call, the Lugia that had given Ronnie and Clyde the Silver Wings before their departure was flying towards what appeared to be a large rock-like structure jutting out of the sea.

This rock was the place that it called home - Navel Rock.

Located precisely between Four and Five Island, this particular location is one that's seldom known to humankind. Despite being between two of the key islands of the Sevii Islands area, Navel Rock - mainly because of it's plain appearance that makes it blend in with the other large rocks poking through the ocean's surface - usually goes ignored by anyone who passes by the area, allowing the denizens who reside there to essentially 'hide in plain sight' and live their lives in peaceful isolation.

As it flew into an massive open-roofed cavern at the top of Navel Rock's peak, Lugia comments "I'm back." to the other Pokemon inside of the cavern - a Ho-Oh who had been enjoying the bright sunlight shining through the large hole above it.

This Ho-Oh in particular was the same one that had met Lincoln on the first day of his journey, giving him one of its Rainbow Wings and a sack of Sacred Ash to go along with it.

Giving the white and blue Legendary across from him a glance, Ho-Oh calmly replied "So you are. Where were you?"

"Five Island. There was something that had caught my interest while I was going for my usual daily flight."

"Oh?"

"A pair of human children and the teenager accompanying them. I don't know why, but I sensed a lot of potential in both of the younger ones - potential to do great things that will help change our world for the better." answered the Lugia, causing an interested look to appear on Ho-Oh's face.

"Hmm...that almost seems like what happened with me when I met that white-haired boy and his Pikachu. Like yourself, I sensed a great deal of potential from him as well. That's why I had left him with some of my Sacred Ash and one of my Rainbow Wings."

"Then it should interest you that both of those children are friends of your 'Chosen', Ho-Oh. Even I could sense the strength of the bond they share with him."

"Interesting. I presume you've made them both your 'Chosen', then?"

"I have. Both of them are now carrying two of my Silver Wings. I have also gifted the older one with my Tidal Bell to serve as a reminder of the words of encouragement that I had spoken to him."

"Hmm...perhaps I should look into finding someone to bestow my Clear Bell to someday. I'm certain that there's someone out there who's worthy of it." mused Ho-Oh to itself. "Do you think your 'Chosen' will be able to handle the hardships that they will face in the future?"

"I believe so." replied the Diving Pokemon calmly before taking on a thoughtful expression. "Still, perhaps I'll have Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos keep an eye on them, just to be safe. Chosen or not, both of them are still only human."

"I may consider doing the same with Raikou, Suicune and Entei as well, now that you mention it." commented Ho-Oh, nodding. "Will your Birds be willing to work together on this task, though?"

"I believe so. Unlike the Lugia living near Shamouti, my Birds don't squabble with each other like a bunch of toddlers fighting over a toy. I honestly feel bad for the poor fellow for having to deal with them."

"I pity him as well. To have those three buffoons playing a role in maintaining the world's most important climate control point...if it wasn't for the fact that he's good at keeping them in line, I'd honestly be worried about the future of our planet."

"I suppose I should consider myself lucky that my job's a lot easier to deal with. I just need to keep an eye on the climate control point here in the Sevii Islands, which is nowhere nearly as vital to the planet's stability as the one near Shamouti." replied Lugia before looking up at the open roof of the cavern. "In any case, I believe that it's time for me to depart once more, Ho-Oh. I need to speak to my Birds about watching over my 'Chosen'."

"Perhaps I'll leave as well. The Beasts will need to know about my wish to watch over mine as well." stated Ho-Oh, flapping his wings in order to take off. "May the winds guide you, old friend."

"May the winds guide you as well."

With that said, both Legendaries take off into the sky and fly off in different directions, intent on searching for their subordinates.

(AN: Yes, you can find both Lugia and Ho-Oh at Navel Rock in FireRed and LeafGreen. Sure, it's one of those Event things that you can't do anymore unless you have a Gameshark or something, but this is canonically in line with the games. I should also mention that it is possible to encounter the Beasts of Johto in those games as well - you have a chance of randomly encountering one of them in the wild after beating the game.)

-=O=-

**Ronnie's Pokemon (Current)**

**Dunsparce Lv.11 (Male)  
Ability: Serene Grace  
Hold Item: n/a  
Nature: Calm  
Moves Known: Headbutt (Egg), Rollout, Defense Curl, Screech, Rage**

**Murkrow Lv.13 (Male)  
Ability: Super Luck  
Hold Item: n/a  
Nature: Rash  
Moves Known: Punishment (Egg), Astonish, Peck, Haze, ?**

**-=O=-**

**Clyde's Pokemon (Current)**

**Phanpy Lv.12 (Female)  
Ability: Sand Veil  
Hold Item: n/a  
Nature: Jolly  
Moves Known: Odor Sleuth, Flail, Growl, Play Rough (Egg)  
**

**Slowpoke Lv.9 (Male)  
Ability: Oblivious  
Hold Item: n/a  
Nature: Lax  
Moves Known: Curse, Yawn, Water Gun, Tackle, ? (Egg)**

**-=O=-**

**Bobby's Pokemon (Current)**

**Natu Lv.8 (Male)  
Ability: Early Bird  
Hold Item: n/a  
Nature: Adamant  
Moves Known: Night Shade, Leer, Teleport, Faint Attack (Egg)**

**Misdreavus Lv. 13 (Female)  
Ability: Levitate  
Hold Item: n/a  
Nature: Naughty  
Moves Known: Psywave, Spite, Growl, Astonish, ? (Egg)**

-=O=-

(AN: Just one omake for now. Enjoy.)

-Omake 1: Alternate 'Selphy and Persian' Scene (SilverNugget)-

-Deeper Within The Lost Cave (9:15 AM)-

Further within the darkest part of the Lost Cave, a finely dressed woman with blonde hair and a bluish-purple colored Persian with a rounder face and a blue gem on its forehead wandered through the darkness of the cavern, their path illuminated by the Flash attack coming from the Classy Cat Pokemon's head.

This woman was Selphy, owner of Resort Gorgeous and the very person that, unknown to her, Sebastian was frantically searching for. Beside her was her trusty Persian, which she had raised from a Meowth that was imported to her from the Alola region.

"Such a dreadfully dark place. No matter how many times I find myself wandering into this cave, I never seem to be able to find my way out of it." remarked Selphy dryly, sounding rather annoyed with her current situation as she looked around the cave.

"I'm still stunned on how you managed to blunder your way in here this time. How in the hell do you manage to get yourself lost in your own home and somehow wind up here?" asked the Persian, giving her a look. "I've heard of people with poor senses of direction, but yours is by far the worst I've ever seen. I'm honestly starting to wonder if there's someone out there with a sense direction that's worse than you."

-=O=-

-Somewhere In The Unova Region (8:15 PM)-

"Damn it...lost again. Where in the world am I now?" muttered a dark-haired teen wearing a pair of green pants with the ends tied to his shin, a yellow tunic, a pair of kung fu slippers, a large backpack and a yellow and black bandana. In his hand was a red-colored umbrella, which he clutched tightly as he looked around the area, trying to figure out exactly where he was at the moment.

From what he could see, he was walking on a massive steel and concrete bridge that seemed to be heading directly towards a large, bustling city with several skyscrapers towering above the people roaming the city's streets.

After looking skywards and seeing a flock of Swanna and Ducklett flying overhead, he mutters "...Well, wherever this is, it's certainly isn't Nerima. Or even Japan, for that matter." before continuing on his way, intent on returning back to the hometown of the one he considered his sworn rival.

"Just you wait, Saotome! Once I find you, I'll make you see Hell!"

-=O=-

AN: Welcome to the first chapter of Pokemon Santiago Version - Kanto. As you can already guess by the title of the story, Ronnie is going to be the main character with Clyde and Bobby playing secondary roles. Both of them will get plenty of time to shine in the story however, so don't worry about the two of them being neglected so the focus of the story can stay on Ronnie Anne. All three will get their moment in the spotlight.

Now then, on to other business...

First of all, I'm going to be offering the chance to nickname Ronnie's Dunsparce, Clyde's Phanpy and Bobby's Natu to the first person who can correctly mention all twelve of the Pokemon that were on Ronnie and Clyde's dream teams.

Secondly, I'd like to ask for your input on what the Tidal Bell's true function should be. I'd like for it to be something that can be used during a critical moment during the story - a situation where the Bell's power will be needed. If you have any ideas, share them through your reviews or through a PM.

Thirdly, I'd just like to remind you that like with Pokemon Loud Version, I'll be accepting Gym Leader ideas here as well. Of course, the ones that are submitted will only be appearing in this particular story and not the other one. I will also say that of all of the canon badges, Ronnie will be winning three of them - Volcano, Marsh, and Soul - so only five OC Gym Leaders will be chosen.

Finally, I'd like to remind you to please refrain from sending me 'update' reviews. Thank you.

As always, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of this story and look forward to the next one.


End file.
